UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

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LIVES 


CHIEF  FATHERS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND. 

The   Lord   our  God  "be  with  us,  as  he  was   with  our 
fathers ;  let  him  not  leave  us,  nor  forsake  us. 

1  KINGS  8:  57. 

VOL.    II. 


THE  LIVES 


JOHN  WILSON,  JOHN  NORTON, 


JOHN  DAVENPOKT, 


BY    A.    W.    M'CLURE. 


LTBRAItY  EDITION,  100  COPIES, 


BOSTON: 
1870. 


PREFACE. 


IT  is  now  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years,  since 
"the  May-flower  furled  her  tattered  sail,"  by  the 
bleak  and  wintry  shores  of  Plymouth.  A  handful  of 
wayworn  and  careworn  pilgrims  planted  their  feet 
upon  that  famous  rock,  bedewing  it  with  tears,  still 
freezing  as  they  fell.  That  handful  of  seed-corn 
has  increased  and  multiplied  by  successive  harvests, 
till  the  fruit  thereof  now  shakes  like  Lebanon,  and 
flourished!  like  the  grass  of  the  earth.  The  foun 
dation  of  the  Roman  State  was  as  weak  and  un 
promising  as  that  of  New  England.  But  we  may 
expect  for  our  people  a  wider  predominance  than 
ever  all-conquering  Rome  attained, — a  dominion  far 
more  noble  than  that  which  is  won  by  force  of  arms. 
Ours  is  the  dominion  of  mind,  girded  with  the  armor 
of  truth,  and  victorious  under  the  banners  of  freedom 
and  religion. 

To  achieve  the  triumph  for  which  we  hope,  and  for 
which  our  fathers  struggled,  it  is  needful  to  keep  alive 
their  memory,  and  diffuse  their  principles.  This  vol 
ume  is  offered  as  an  humble  aid  in  this  great  work. 
As  our  fathers  have  been  noisily  charged  with  having 
a  spirit  of  extreme  bigotry,  and  unequaled  intoler- 
1* 


PREFACE. 


ance  ;  and  as  this  charge,  more  than  any  other,  tends 
to  impede  the  good  influence  of  their  principles  and 
examples,  it  was  thought  best  to  meet  it  once  for  all. 
This  will  be  found  attempted  at  some  length,  and,  it 
is  thought,  with  the  necessary  effect,  in  the  third 
chapter  of  the  Life  of  John  Wilson.  The  rest  of  the 
volume  is  composed  of  biographical  matter.  It  may 
be  expected,  that  this  series  will  soon  be  extended  by 
other  volumes,  from  several  writers,  descriptive  of  the 
compeers  of  those  good  men  who  are  commemorated 
here. 

May  the  descendants  of  the  Pilgrims  and  Puritans 
follow  their  faith,  order,  and  piety.  Let  us  pray  with 
Solomon ; — "  O  Lord  God  of  our  fathers,  keep  this  for 
ever  in  the  imagination  of  the  thoughts  of  the  heart  of 
thy  people,  and  prepare  their  heart  unto  thee." 

BOSTON,  MAY  1,  1846. 


LIFE   OF   JOHN   WILSON. 


CHAPTER  I. 

All  true  ministers  sent  of  God.  John  Wilson's  birth— parentage- 
education.  Eton  school.  King's  College,  Cambridge.  Fellow 
ship.  Slander.  Conversion.  Prejudice  against  Puritans.  Richard 
Rogers.  Mr.  Wilson  joins  the  Puritans.  Dr.  Ames.  Mr.  Wilson 
obliged  to  leave  the  University.  Inns  of  court.  Return  to  Cam 
bridge.  Called  to  his  father's  death-bed.  Troubled  for  non-con 
formity.  "  Some  Helps  to  Faith."  Countess  of  Leicester.  Lec 
turers.  Chaplain.  Lady  Scudamore.  Sabbath- keeping.  Mr. 
Wilson  settled  at  Sudbury.  His  success  there.  His  troubles  in 
the  bishop's  courts.  Suspended.  Silenced.  Restored.  Death  of 
Harsnet.  Mr.  Wilson  departs  to  America. 

ONE  of  the  most  famous  of  the  Lord's  ministers 
with  whom  the  Bible  acquaints  us,  is  thus  intro 
duced — "  There  was  a  man  sent  from  God 
whose  name  was  John."  All  true  ministers  are 
sent  of  God.  In  this  sense,  they  are  all  mis 
sionaries,  all  apostles;  both  of  which  terms, 
according  to  their  derivations,  have  the  same 
meaning.  They  designate  such  as  are  com 
missioned  to  go  upon  God's  errand,  to  do  his 


8  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 


work,  and  bear  his  messages  to  men.  John, 
the  son  of  Zecharias,  was  thus  sent,  as  the  text 
asserts,  from  God.  He  was  a  sort  of  herald,  to 
precede  and  announce  the  near  advent  of  our 
Lord.  And  a  glorious  office  it  was,  to  sound 
the  trumpet  in  Zion,  and  make  proclamation  of 
the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man.  Great  was  the 
honor,  to  be  the  day-star  to  that  rising  orb. 

In  a  lower  sense,  it  may  be  said  of  him  of 
whom  we  are  to  speak  at  this  time,  "  there  was 
a  man  sent  from  God,  whose  name  was  John." 
This  man,  like  his  illustrious  namesake,  that 
lone  prophet  of  the  desert,  was  a  sort  of  fore 
runner  of  our  Lord,  proceeding  before  his  face 
into  this  part  of  the  wide  wilderness.  He  was 
the  first  voice  which  cried  upon  the  desert  pen 
insula  of  Shawmut ; — "  Prepare  ye  the  way  of 
the  Lord,  make  his  paths  straight !  " 

But  the  apostolic  man  whom  we  now  com 
memorate,  more  resembles  in  character  that 
other  John,  the  favored  disciple,  beloved  of  God 
and  man.  Like  that  last  surviving  apostle,  the 
first  pastor  of  Boston,  united  a  burning  flame  of 
zeal  with  a  love-breathing  spirit  of  the  tenderest 
charity.  Our  fathers  considered  him  to  excel 
other  men  in  love,  as  much  as  their  venerated 
Cotton  exceeded  them  in  light. 

John  Wilson  was  born  at  Windsor,  in  Eng- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  9 

land,  in  the  year  1588.  His  family  was  highly 
respectable.  His  father,  Rev.  Dr.  William 
Wilson,  was  a  well-beneficed  clergyman,  being 
a  prebend  of  St.  Paul's,  of  Rochester,  and  of 
Windsor,  and  rector  of  the  parish  of  Cliff.  The 
mother  was  a  niece  of  Dr.  Edmund  Grindall, 
the  pious  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who,  in  the 
reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  favored  the  Puritans 
to  the  extent  of  his  power,  and  at  the  cost  of  the 
severe  displeasure  of  the  imperious  Queen. 
Under  the  care  of  his  parents,  John  Wilson, 
who  was  their  third  son,  was  trained  to  an  ab 
horrence  of  every  form  of  vice,  and  especially  of 
every  appearance  of  falsehood.  At  the  age  of 
ten,  he  was  placed  under  what  was  then  the 
rigorous  discipline  of  Eton  college.  While 
here  he  was  twice  rescued  with  difficulty  from 
drowning.  Such  was  his  proficiency  in  study, 
that,  when  yet  the  smallest  boy  in  school,  he  was 
appointed  prepositor,  or  overseer  of  the  other 
scholars.  When  the  French  ambassador,  the 
Duke  de  Biron,  visited  the  Seminary,  our  hope 
ful  youth  made  a  Latin  oration  so  much  to  the 
Duke's  satisfaction,  that  he  gave  him  for  lar 
gesse  three  angels  ;  a  sort  of  gold  coin  so  called, 
of  ten  shilling's  value.  After  four  years'  stay 
at  Eton,  he  was  admitted  to  King's  College, 
Cambridge,  in  1602,  being  then  in  his  fifteenth 


10  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

year.  In  due  time,  he  was  elected  to  a  fellow 
ship  in  his  college.  This  election,  effected  by 
the  warm  interposition  of  the  provost  in  his  be 
half,  he  had  like  to  have  lost,  in  consequence  of 
some  slanders  which  had  been  maliciously  cir 
culated  to  prevent  the  choice.  This  affliction 
led  his  mind  to  serious  reflections,  and  disposed 
him  to  be  much  in  prayer. 

The  injurious  reports  were  soon  cleared  up, 
and  vanished  into  forgetfulness.  It  has  been 
said  by  one  who  was  himself  most  unreasonably 
calumniated ; — "  A  slander  that  has  no  truth  to 
support  it,  is  only  a  great  fish  upon  dry  land ;  it 
may  flounce,  and  fling,  and  make  a  fretful 
pother,  but  it  will  not  bite  you  ;  you  need  not 
knock  it  on  the  head,  it  will  soon  be  still,  and 
die  quietly  of  itself."  The  weapons  of  the  slan 
derer  are  never  more  completely  foiled,  than 
when  met  by  silent  contempt.  From  that  im 
penetrable  shield,  how  often  have  the  enven 
omed  darts  rebounded  upon  the  assailant !  It 
was  wisely  sung  by  one  of  our  older  poets ; — 


And  I  do  count  it  a  most  rare  revenge, 
That  I  can  thus,  with  such  a  sweet  neglect, 
Pluck  from  them  all  the  pleasure  of  their  malice  ; 
For  that's  the  mark  of  all  their  enginous  drifts, 
To  wound  my  patience,  howso'er  they  seem 
To  aim  at  other  objects  ;  which,  if  missed, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  11 

Their  envy's  like  an  arrow  shot  upright, 
That,  in  the  fall,  endangers  their  own  heads." 

The  trouble  of  mind  which  young  Mr.  Wilson 
suffered  from  the  malice  of  his  detractor,  proved 
to  be  an  advantageous  affliction ;  it  is  so  true, 
that  "  the  eye  which  sin  shuts,  affliction  opens." 
"  Certain  it  is,"  says  Jeremy  Taylor,  "  unless 
we  first  be  cut  and  hewn  in  the  mountains,  we 
shall  not  be  fixed  in  the  temple  of  God." 

Mr.  Wilson,  through  the  divine  blessing  upon 
the  restraints  of  a  careful  and  virtuous  educa 
tion,  had  ever  continued  in  a  course  of  serious 
and  irreproachable  morality.  Strange  as  it  may 
seem  to  such  as  have  not  known  it  by  experi 
ence,  persons  of  this  character  often  endure  the 
most  distressing  and  protracted  convictions  of 
sinfulness  before  God ;  and  are  often  the  most 
earnest  in  renouncing,  even  with  horror,  all 
thought  of  relying  on  their  own  righteousness, 
and  in  trusting  for  salvation  to  the  merits  of 
Christ  alone.  There  is  no  hopeful  sign  of  grace 
in  these  "  moral  sinners,"  till  they  begin  to 
manifest  a  painful  consciousness  of  the  native 
corruption  of  their  hearts  and  their  guiltiness  in 
the  sight  of  a  holy  God.  Though  sin  be  the 
cause  of  all  our  misery,  yet  a  sense  of  sin  is  the 
first  step  to  all  the  happiness  of  the  Christian 
life. 


12  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

Under  the  preaching  of  several  godly  divines, 
who  were  then  the  lights  of  the  University,  Mr. 
Wilson  became  an  anxious  inquirer  for  that  one 
thing  he  yet  lacked.  And  now  the  grace  of 
Christ,  which  no  one  ever  sought  sincerely,  and 
sought  in  vain,  taught  him  to  make  strenuous 
exertions,  that  others  might  know  that  grace, 
and  rejoice  in  its  power.  He  regularly  visited 
the  prisons  ;  and,  through  his  patient  and  labo 
rious  efforts,  many  of  the  hardened  convicts 
were  softened,  and  melted  to  repentance. 

This  young  and  ardent  Christian  was  filled 
with  educational  prejudices  against  the  Puri 
tans.  Though  his  devout  and  zealous  life 
caused  him  to  be  regarded  as  one  himself,  his 
high-church  notions  led  him  to  shun  their 
acquaintance.  His  strong  prepossessions  against 
a  class  of  men  whom  he  had  ever  been  accus 
tomed  to  hear  decried,  without  knowing  what 
their  sentiments  really  were,  at  last  were  re 
moved.  Making  purchases  in  a  bookseller's 
shop,  to  increase  his  well-stocked  library,  he 
fell  upon  a  highly  esteemed  work  of  the  Rev. 
Richard  Rogers,  styled  "  The  Seven  Trea 
tises."  The  reading  of  this  book  so  affected 
Mr.  Wilson's  mind,  that  he  made  a  journey  to 
Weathersfield,  in  Essex,  in  order  to  listen  to  the 
preaching  of  its  author. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  13 

Mr.  Rogers  was  then  an  old  minister,  and 
had  often  been  suspended,  and  silenced,  and 
otherwise  troubled  for  his  non-conformity.  He 
was  a  most  faithful  and  laborious  minister ;  and 
it  is  said,  that  "  the  Lord  honored  none  more  in 
the  conversion  of  souls."  He  was  an  admired 
preacher.  He  used  to  say; — "I  should  be 
sorry  if  every  day  were  not  employed  as  if  it 
were  my  last."  He  was  called  the  Enoch  of  his 
day;  and  Bishop  Kennet  said  of  him,  "that 
England  hardly  ever  brought  forth  a  man  who 
walked  more  closely  with  God."  He  was  grave 
and  serious  in  all  company.  A  gentleman  once 
said  to  him  ; — "  Mr.  Rogers,  I  like  you,  and 
your  company,  very  well,  only  you  are  too  pre 
cise."  To  this  he  replied  ; — "  Oh  Sir,  I  serve  a 
precise  God." 

Enlightened  by  the  instructions,  public  and 
private,  of  this  divine,  and  by  the  study  of  able 
writers,  Mr.  Wilson  clearly  saw,  that  the  Puri 
tans  were  far  preferable  to  the  Impuritans  as 
companions  of  one  who  was  diligently  seeking 
eternal  life.  Returning  to  the  University,  he 
sought  the  counsels  of  Dr.  William  Ames,  who 
was  about  this  time,  in  1610,  driven  to  Holland, 
where  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  days  in  great 
fame  for  learning,  piety  and  usefulness.  He 
died  just  as  he  was  upon  the  point  of  embarking 
VOL.  n.  2 


14  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

for  New  England,  whither  his  widow  and  chil 
dren  soon  after  went,  carrying  his  valuable 
library.  Mr.  Wilson,  following  the  advice  of 
Dr.  Ames,  gathered  around  him  a  company  of 
pious  associates,  who  statedly  met  in  his  college 
chambers,  for  fasting,  conference  and  prayer. 

It  was  not  long,  before,  like  most  other  Pu 
ritans,  he  began  to  scruple  at  some  of  the  rites 
imposed  by  the  National  Church.  He  procured 
all  the  books  he  could  find  on  either  side  of  the 
question,  and  seriously  weighed  the  arguments 
they  contained.  Though  early  impressions  and 
personal  interests  must  have  made  the  scale 
gravitate  strongly  in  favor  of  conformity,  yet 
conscience  and  duty  preponderated  the  other 
way.  As  the  result  of  this  long  and  solemn 
deliberation,  he  began,  in  the  worship  of  God, 
to  omit  some  ceremonies,  which  he  felt  to  be 
instituted  in  derogation  from  the  kingly  power 
of  Christ  in  his  Church.  For  these  omissions, 
the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  at  a  visitation  of  the 
University,  pronounced  against  him  the  sen 
tence  of  quindenu??i,  or  expulsion  within  fifteen 
days,  unless  he  should  desist  from  the  offence. 
This  news  stirred  up  all  the  affection  of  his  dis 
tressed  father,  who  urgently  wrote  to  him  to 
conform ;  and  exercised  his  influence  with  the 
bishop  to  procure  three  months'  indulgence, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  15 

within  which  time  the  son  must  conform,  or 
resign  his  fellowship  and  hopes  of  promotion. 
His  father  sent  him  to  several  divines  of  note, 
in  hopes  they  would  succeed  in  removing-  his 
scruples.  But  after  much  interchange  of  talk 
ing  and  writing,  Mr.  Wilson  was  more  decided 
than  before.  Upon  this,  his  father  sought  to 
withdraw  him  from  the  ministry,  and  placed 
him  at  the  Inns  of  Court  as  a  student  of  the  law. 
Here  too  he  found  pious  acquaintances,  with 
whom  he  constantly  met  for  devotional  exer 
cises.  He  also  derived  much  benefit  from  the 
acquaintance  of  Scultet,  the  learned  chaplain 
of  the  Prince  Palatine  of  the  Rhine,  who  was 
then  making  some  stop  in  England. 

After  three  years  spent  in  the  inns  of  court 
in  pursuits  uncongenial  to  his  feelings,  Mr. 
Wilson's  father  yielded  to  his  wishes  to  enter 
the  ministry,  and  consented  that  he  should 
return  to  the  University  to  take  his  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts.  He  applied  for  this  purpose  to 
a  different  college  from  that  in  which  he  had 
formerly  met  with  trouble.  But  Dr.  Gary,  vice- 
chancellor  of  the  University,  being  aware  of  the 
old  difficulty,  would  not  admit  him  to  his  de 
gree,  unless  he  would  subscribe  to  the  .articles 
of  the  Church  by  law  established.  Distressed 
by  this  impracticable  condition,  he  went  to  his 


16  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 


father's  house.  There,  at  that  time,  was  visit 
ing  a  gentleman  of  influence,  who  had  business 
with  the  Earl  of  Northampton,  then  Chancellor 
of  the  University.  At  the  intercession  of  that 
gentleman,  the  Earl  immediately  wrote  in  Mr. 
Wilson's  favor  to  the  Vice-Chancellor.  All 
difficulty  gave  way  before  this  potent  recom 
mendation.  The  candidate  obtained  the  desired 
degree,  and  resided  for  a  while  in  Emanuel 
College.  This  was  to  him  a  matter  of  import 
ance,  by  reason  of  the  power  which  the  Univer 
sity  enjoyed  of  licensing  persons  to  preach 
throughout  the  realm,  without  previous  applica 
tion  to  the  diocesans.  For  this  purpose,  he 
made  frequent  journeys  into  the  adjoining 
counties.  At  this  time,  Mr.  Wilson  made  a 
solemn  resolution  before  God ; — "  That  if  the 
Lord  would  grant  him  liberty  of  conscience, 
with  purity  of  worship,  he  would  be  content, 
yea,  thankful,  though  it  were  at  the  furthermost 
end  of  the  world."  To  this  resolution  he  faith 
fully  adhered,  and  God  granted  his  desire. 

Soon  after  he  had  preached  his  first  sermon 
at  Newport,  he  was  summoned  to  his  father's 
death-bed.  According  to  the  patriarchal  cus 
tom,  the  children  kneeled  in  succession  for 
their  dying  parent's  blessing.  When  the  staunch 
young  Puritan  kneeled  in  his  turn,  there  bowed 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  17 


at  his  side  the  lady  to  whom  he  was  betrothed, 
Elizabeth,  the  virtuous  daughter  of  Sir  John 
Mansfield.  Upon  this,  the  expiring  father 
said ; — "  Ah  John,  I  have  taken  much  care 
about  thee,  such  time  as  thou  wast  in  the  Uni 
versity,  because  thou  wouldest  not  conform.  I 
would  fain  have  brought  thee  to  some  higher 
preferment  than  thou  hast  yet  attained  unto.  I 
see  thy  conscience  is  very  scrupulous,  concern 
ing  some  things  that  have  been  observed  and 
imposed  in  the  Church.  Nevertheless  I  have 
rejoiced  to  see  the  grace  and  fear  of  God  in  thy 
heart ;  and  seeing  thou  hast  kept  a  good  con 
science  hitherto,  and  walked  according  to  thy 
light,  so  do  still ;  and  go  by  the  rules  of  God's 
holy  Word.  The  Lord  bless  thee,  and  her 
whom  thou  hast  chosen  to  be  the  companion  of 
thy  life." 

Consoled  by  this  paternal  benediction,  Mr. 
Wilson  gave  himself  wholly  to  the  work  of  the 
gospel.  Among  other  places,  he  preached  in 
Moreclake.  Here  his  non-conformity  involved 
him  in  a  tempest  of  troubles  ;  from  which,  how 
ever,  he  found  shelter,  partly  by  a  mistake  of 
those  who  informed  against  him  ;  and  partly  by 
the  favor  of  the  magistrate  before  whom  he  was 
cited,  who  happened  to  be  Sir  William  Bird,  a 
kinsman  of  Mr.  Wilson's  wife. 
2* 


18  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

This  storm  being  blown  over,  Mr.  Wilson 
was  occupied  as  chaplain  in  several  honorable 
families.  One  was  that  of  the  Countess  of 
Leicester,  to  whom  he  dedicated  the  only  book, 
except  a  small  poem,  he  ever  published.  It  is 
entitled,  "  Some  Helps  to  Faith ;  shewing  the 
necessitie,  grounds,  kinds,  degrees,  and  Signes 
of  it ;  clearing  divers  doubts,  and  answering 
objections  made  by  the  Soule  in  temptation. 
Seruing  also  for  a  tryall  of  a  man's  spirituall 
estate.  The  third  Edition,  explaining  and  in- 
larging  something  in  the  former.  By  John 
Wilson,  Preacher  of  God's  Word  in  Guilford. 
Philip.  1.25,26.  For  your  furtherance,  and 
ioy  of  faith,  that  you  may  more  abundantly 
reioyce  in  Jesus  Christ.  London,  Printed  for 
Robert  Melbourne,  and  are  to  be  sold  at  his 
Shop  at  the  sign  of  the  Grayhound  in  Paul's 
Churchyard.  1630."  The  first  edition  was 
probably  printed  ten  or  twelve  years  before. 
This  little  volume,  with  its  large  title,  indicat 
ing,  as  the  custom  then  was,  the  contents  of  the 
book,  is  excellent  of  its  kind.  It  abounds  in 
divisions,  and  still  more  in  appropriate  Scripture. 
It  is  such  a  treatise  of  practical  piety  as  none 
but  a  devout  Calvinist  could  write.  The  cele 
brated  Hannah  More,  who  liked  not  the  dis 
tinctive  sentiments  of  such  men,  was  very  fond 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  19 

of  reading  what  they  wrote  upon  experimental 
religion.  She  used  to  say,  that  she  "  loved  the 
lean  of  their  fat.''  Her  taste  is  to  be  com 
mended  :  for,  in  truth,  to  the  devout  soul,  hun 
gering  for  "strong  meat,"  there  is  but  little 
nourishment  afforded  by  "the  lean  kine,"  of  the 
Pelagian  herd,  or  "  the  bulls  of  Bashan,"  who 
push  with  the  horns  of  Arminius,  and  bellow  in 
his  tones. 

The  "  Helps  to  Faith,"  is  inscribed  "  to  the 
truly  noble  ladie,  The  Ladie  Lettice  ;  Coun- 
tesse  of  Leicester."  In  this  address,  Mr.  Wilson 
says  ; — "  It  hath  pleased  God  to  stirre  up  your 
Ladyshippe  for  my  good  :  First,  in  calling  mee 
to  bee  a  minister  to  your  Honorable  Family, 
how  weake  soeuer  ;  yet  not  without  some  fruite 
by  his  blessing,  whose  power  is  seene  in  weake- 
nesse ;  where,  how  I  was  cared  for,  my  Con 
science  doeth  witnesse  :  Secondly,  in  your  op- 
portunitie,  (preferring  publique  good,  so  were 
your  wordes,)  giving  mee  a  free  and  comfortable 
entrance  into  this  charge,  wherin  I  now  labor, 
according  to  my  measure.  And  from  that  time, 
I  have  been  followed  with  kindnesse  from  that 
house  :  but  it  especially  refresheth  mee  to  re 
member,  that  for  the  worke  of  my  Ministerie, 
your  Honour  willed  mee  to  account  you  as  my 
Mother."  It  is  probable,  that  the  duty  to  which 


20  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

he  was   called  in   Guilford  by  his    pious  pat 
roness,  was  that  of  "  lecturer." 

In  those  days,  very  many  of  the  ministers, 
even  of  large  parishes,  were  incompetent  for 
their  work.  The  patron,  who  had  livings  in  his 
gift,  or  the  right  of  conferring  the  parish  on 
whom  he  would,  too  often  abused  this  right 
which  he  had  acquired  by  inheritance  or  pur 
chase.  Men  who  entered  the  ministry  from  the 
lowest  motives  would  "  come  and  crouch  to 
him  for  a  piece  of  silver  and  a  morsel  of  bread," 
and  say,  "  Put  me,  I  pray  thee,  into  one  of  the 
priests'  offices,  that  I  may  eat  a  piece  of  bread." 
Many  of  these  incumbents  were  incapable  of 
praying  except  by  a  book,  and  incapable  of 
preaching  in  any  way.  The  reading  of  the 
Common  Prayer,  and  sometimes  of  a  printed 
Homily  authorized  by  the  government  for  the 
purpose,  was  all  that  they  attempted  for  the 
instruction  of  their  flocks.  To  "  supply  this 
lack  of  service,"  religious  persons  of  wealth 
would  often  support  a  lecturer,  to  preach  statedly 
in  some  church  thus  unprovided  with  a  preach 
ing  pastor.  Nearly  all  these  lecturers,  and 
indeed  almost  all  other  zealous  preachers,  were 
of  the  Puritan  stamp.  Of  course,  they  were 
viewed  with  much  dislike  by  those  whom  the 
good  martyr  and  bishop  Latimer  commonly 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  21 

called  "  the  unpreaching  prelates."  These 
prelates,  and  others  who  were  inclined  to  des 
potism  in  Church  and  State,  were  quite  of  Queen 
Elizabeth's  mind,  who  thought,  that  "  one 
preacher  was  enough  for  a  whole  county."  The 
lecturers  were  not,  usually,  suffered  to  pursue 
their  labors  without  interruption.  They  were 
usually  driven  off  under  some  charge  of  non 
conformity.  It  is  probable,  that  Mr.  Wilson 
continued  but  a  short  time  to  be  "  preacher  of 
God's  Word  in  Guilford,"  though  of  this  we 
have  no  certain  information. 

We  have  mentioned,  that  he  was  employed 
as  domestic  chaplain  in  several  families  of  dis 
tinction.  The  last  of  these  was  the  family  of 
the  pious  lady  Scudamore.  While  here,  he 
was  grieved  to  notice  the  worldly  and  unsuitable 
conversation  of  the  gentry  at  the  table  on  the 
Sabbath.  At  last  he  rose,  and  said ; — "  I  will 
make  bold  to  speak  a  word  or  two.  This  is  the 
Lord's  holy  day,  and  we  have  been  hearing  his 
holy  Word.  We  should  think  and  speak  about 
such  things  as  have  been  delivered  in  the  name 
of  God  ;  and  not  lavish  out  the  time  in  discourse 
about  hawks  and  hounds."  Upon  this  one  of 
the  gentlemen  very  handsomely  thanked  him 
for  the  reproof;  and  expressed  the  hope  that  it 
might  not  be  uttered  in  vain.  However,  the 


22  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

next  Sabbath,  the  gentlefolks  were  at  their  old 
table-talk  again.  Mr.  Wilson  did  not  fail  to  tell 
them ; — "  that  the  hawks  they  talked  of,  were 
the  birds  that  picked  up  the  seed  of  the  Word 
after  it  was  sown:"  he  also  entreated  them  to 
talk  of  "  such  things  as  might  sanctify  the  day, 
and  edify  their  own  souls."  The  same  gentle 
man  who  had  thanked  him  for  the  first  admoni 
tion,  again  thanked  him  for  his  faithful  warning. 
But  Mr.  Leigh,  the  husband  of  the  lady  of  the 
house,  was  deeply  offended.  Lady  Scudamore 
wished  her  chaplain  to  say  something  to  appease 
him.  But  Mr.  Wilson  was  ready  to  leave  the 
family,  rather  than  make  any  apology  for  having 
discharged  his  duty.  When  it  was  found  that 
neither  the  kindness  nor  the  displeasure  of  his 
patrons  could  make  the  good  man  swerve  from 
his  fidelity,  Mr.  Leigh  and  the  others  amended 
their  fault ;  and  the  day  of  sacred  rest  was  no 
longer  profaned  by  unsuitable  discourse. 

After  he  left  this  family,  Mr.  Wilson  preached 
a  while  at  Henley.  He  then,  for  three  years, 
preached  in  rotation  at  four  neighboring  places, 
in  Suffolk  county,  namely,  Bumstead,  Stoke, 
Clare,  and  Candish.  At  one  of  these  places, 
some  people  of  Sudbury  happened  to  hear  him  ; 
and  he  was,  in  consequence,  invited  to  become 
minister  there,  as  successor  to  Mr.  Jenkyn,  an 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  23 

eminent  Puritan,  who  died  in  1618.  His  call 
to  this  place  was  signed  by  many  scores  of  the 
people,  and  the  leading  men  among  them.  He 
would  not  accept  this  pastoral  charge,  till  he 
was  freely  elected  by  the  people  on  a  day  of 
solemn  prayer  and  fasting,  at  which  the  neigh 
boring  ministers  assisted.  He  was  the  more 
willing  to  settle  in  this  town,  because  it  placed 
him  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  aged  Mr. 
Rogers,  from  whose  counsels  both  he  and  his 
predecessor,  Mr.  Jenkyn,  had  obtained  much 
spiritual  aid ;  and  from  whose  dying  lips  Mr. 
Wilson  afterwards  received  a  blessing  among 
that  good  man's  children.  It  was  here,  that 
Mr.  Wilson  became  acquainted  with  the  excel 
lent  John  Winthrop,  then  living  in  the  neigh 
borhood,  and  afterwards  the  prime  leader  of  the 
Massachusetts  colony,  and  with  whom  Mr. 
Wilson  first  came  to  these  shores. 

During-  bis  ministry  in  Sudbury,  Mr.  Wilson, 
like  a  faithful  ambassador  for  Christ,  strictly 
followed  his  Master's  instructions.  He  became 
eminent  for  the  success  with  which  God  crowned 
his  evangelical  labors.  Many  remarkable  cases 
of  conversion  attested  that  the  Lord  was  with 
him.  One  instance  is  related  of  a  tradesman 
in  that  place,  who  was  much  addicted  to  vicious 
practices  ;  and,  among  them,  to  pilfering.  One 


24  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

day,  as  this  man  was  observing  the  people 
flocking  to  Mr.  Wilson's  lecture,  the  thought 
occurred  to  him  ; — "  Why  should  I  tarry  at 
home  to  work,  when  so  many  go  to  hear  a  ser 
mon  ?  "  And  so  he  went  with  the  multitude. 
But  when  there,  he  heard  a  sermon  specially 
applicable  to  himself,  from  the  text ; — "  Let  him 
that  stole,  steal  no  more."  Receiving  this  as 
God's  message  to  his  soul,  the  penitent  hearer 
became  a  reformed  and  pious  man. 

In  those  persecuting  times,  it  was  not  to  be 
expected,  that  a  servant  of  God  so  eminent  for 
zeal  and  usefulness  as  Mr.  Wilson,  should 
escape  unharmed.  There  was  a  sort  of  upstart 
preacher  among  the  Puritans  at  Sudbury,  who, 
irritated  at  the  superior  respect  paid  to  Mr. 
Wilson,  became  a  conformist.  In  him  the 
smoke  of  apostacy,  as  too  often  happens,  burst 
forth  into  the  blaze  of  persecution.  This  person 
made  his  complaints  to  the  Bishop's  courts, 
from  whose  sentence  our  worthy  pastor  escaped 
only  by  the  powerful  intercession  of  some  influ 
ential  men  who  exerted  themselves  in  his  behalf. 
On  one  occasion,  his  prosecutor  employed  a 
pursuivant,  noticed  above  all  others  for  his 
activity  in  such  business,  to  arrest  Mr.  Wilson. 
But  though  this  "  mighty  hunter,"  whose  "  prey 
was  man,"  arrested  scores  of  people,  who  were 


LIFE      OF     JOHN     WILSON.  25 

returning  from  lecture,  he  dismissed  them  all, 
because  he  had  missed  of  taking  the  preacher, 
who,  by  a  good  providence,  had  gone  out  of  his 
way  to  visit  a  friend. 

After  this,  a  lady  of  rank,  not  intending  any 
offence,  chanced  to  speak  too  favorably  of  Mr. 
Wilson's  preaching  in  comparison  with  that  of  a 
certain  reverend  doctor.  Upon  this  the  angry 
divine  applied  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  who 
suspended  Mr.  Wilson  from  office  for  the  scan 
dalous  offence  of  preaching  better  than  some  of 
his  neighbors. 

This  suspension  had  not  been  long  taken  off, 
when  he  was  wholly  silenced,  with  several 
other  worthy  ministers,  by  Dr.  Harsnet,  Bishop 
of  Norwich.  After  a  while,  the  Earl  of  War 
wick,  a  very  potent  nobleman,  signed  a  letter  to 
this  Bishop,  which  letter  Mr.  Wilson  drew  up 
at  the  Earl's  desire.  Hereupon  he  was  at  once 
restored  to  the  freedom  of  his  ministry.  That 
same  Bishop,  not  long  after,  went  forth  upon  an 
expedition  to  the  northern  part  of  his  diocese, 
to  put  down  the  non-conforming  pastors  and 
people  there.  Meanwhile  the  ministers  in  the 
southern  region  set  apart  a  day  of  fasting,  to 
pray  for  the  help  of  heaven  in  behalf  of  their 
brethren.  On  that  very  day,  the  oppressive 
prelate  was  taken  with  a  violent  fit,  which 

VOL.    II.       3 


26  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

forced  him  to  stop  at  a  wretched  inn  on  the 
road,  when  he  suddenly  expired.  This  is  one 
out  of  the  numberless  instances  which  church 
history  affords,  of  the  miserable  end  which  per 
secutors  have  commonly  met.  "  The  Lord  is 
known  by  the  judgment  which  he  executeth." 

But  persecution  died  not  with  Dr.  Harsnet. 
The  harrassed  and  worn  out  Puritans  began  to 
sigh  for  that  repose  and  security,  which  the  old 
world  could  not  offer  them.  They  began  to  say 
one  to  another ; — "  The  sun  shines  as  pleasantly 
on  America  as  on  England,  and  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness  much  more  clearly.  Let  us  re 
move  whither  the  providence  of  God  calls,  and 
make  that  our  country,  which  will  afford  us 
what  is  dearer  than  property  or  life,  the  liberty 
of  worshiping  God  in  the  way  which  appears 
to  us  most  conducive  to  our  eternal  welfare."^ 
Mr.  Wilson,  after  he  had  ministered  at  Sud- 
bury  for  ten  or  twelve  years,  embarked  with 
many  of  his  neighbors  iri  the  large  company  of 
fifteen  hundred  settlers,  which  came  over  with 
John  Winthrop  in  the  year  1630.  They  left 
the  Isle  of  Wight  on  the  8th  of  April ;  and  by 
the  12th  of  June,  the  principal  vessel  of  their 
fleet  of  thirteen,  arrived  at  Salem,  which  had 

*  Neal's  Hist.  Vol.  II.  p    207. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  27 

begun  to  be  settled  some  three  or  four  years 
before.  Thus  these  good  men  went  from  one 
sore  trial  to  another.  They  left  behind  them 
the  home  from  which  it  was  so  painful  parting ; 
and  before  them  were  the  sorrows  of  the  wil 
derness. 


28  LIFE      OF     JOHN     WILSON. 


CHAPTER    II. 

Hard  times.  Mr.  Wilson's  activity.  Church  formed  at  Charles- 
town  Mr.  Wilson  installed  as  teacher  of  the  church.  Removal  to 
Boston.  Mr.  Wilson  returns  to  England.  His  second  voyage  to 
America.  House  of  worship  built.  Prognostications.  Excursion  to 
Plymouth.  Sabbath,  and  order  of  worship  there.  Mr.  Wilson  in 
stalled  as  pastor  of  Boston.  Arrival  of  John  Cotton,  who  becomes 
teacher.  Mr.  Wilson's  labors  among  the  Indians.  Account  of 
Sagamore  John.  His  death  and  the  destruction  of  his  band.  His 
son  committed  to  Mr.  Wilson's  care.  Treatment  of  the  Indians. 
Land-title.  John  Cotton.  Penn's  treaty.  Low  price  of  wild 
lands.  Revival  in  Boston  Church.  Intercourse  between  the  min 
istry  and  magistracy.  The  clergy,  the  friends  of  liberty.  Adven 
ture  at  Nantasket.  Mr.  Wilson  again  returns  to  England.  Dan 
gers  on  the  Irish  coast.  Driven  to  Ireland.  Travels  in  England. 
Legacy  of  Dr.  Wilson.  Visit  to  Sudbury.  Visit  to  Nathaniel  Rog 
ers.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Wilson.  Good  Mr.  Dod's  message  to  her. 
Her  husband  in  peril.  Edward  Johnson.  Sails  for  America  the 
last  time.  His  fellow  voyagers,  Shepard,  Hugh  Peters,  &c.  Ar 
rival  at  Boston.  Antinomian  controversy. 

MR.  Wilson  was  about  forty-two  years  of  age 
when  he  came  to  this  country.  He  exerted 
himself  most  energetically  to  encourage  the 
people  under  the  inconceivable  difficulties  of  a 
new  settlement.  His  "  over-doing  liberality," 
knew  no  bounds  except  his  limited  means. 
Morton,  naming  him  as  "  eminent  for  love  and 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  29 

zeal,"  says  that  he  "  bare  a  great  share  of  the 
difficulties  of  these  new  beginnings  with  great 
cheerfulness  and  alacrity  of  spirit."  He  was 
fully  up  to  the  spirit  of  that  time  of  primitive 
zeal  and  love,  when  no  disciple  said,  "  that 
aught  of  the  things  which  he  possessed  was  his 
own;  but  they  had  all  things  common."  Such 
were  their  hardships  as  to  afford  full  scope  for 
his  active  benevolence.  Some  idea  of  their  suf 
ferings  may  be  derived  from  the  fact,  that,  with 
in  three  months  from  their  landing,  they  buried 
near  two  hundred  of  their  number  :  those  who 
survived  were  sadly  prostrated  by  sickness  :  and 
two  hundred  of  them  abandoned  the  colony  that 
fall.  These  distresses  were  owing  to  insuffi 
cient  shelter  as  they  lay  "  up  and  down  in 
booths,"  and  to  the  want  of  suitable  food  and 
remedies.  Mr.  Wilson  was  indefatigable  in  his 
endeavors  to  console  the  afflicted,  and  revive 
the  hopes  of  the  faint-hearted.  There  is  a  tra 
dition  of  his  preaching  a  comforting  discourse 
upon  the  example  of  the  patriarch  Jacob,  who 
was  not  discouraged  though  his  beloved  Rachel 
died  by  the  way,  as  he  was  removing  in  obedi 
ence  to  the  divine  command. 

In  the  face  of  disaster,  Mr.  Wilson  still  urged 
on  the  main  design  of  the  colony,  which  was, 
"  to  settle  and  enjoy  the  ordinances  of  the  gos- 
3* 


30  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

pel,  and  worship  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  accord 
ing  to  his  own  institutions."  Having  settled 
at  Charlestown  in  the  month  of  July,  with  a 
considerable  part  of  the  colony,  on  the  thirtieth 
of  that  month,  a  day  of  fasting  was  observed  on 
account  of  the  prevailing  mortality.  The  servi 
ces  were  held,  as  we  derive  from  that  old  wor 
thy,  Roger  Clap,  under  a  shady  oak ;  where, 
says  that  delightful  example  of  puritanism  in 
private  life,  "  I  have  heard  many  a  good  sermon 
from  Mr.  Wilson  and  Mr.  Phillips."  In  truth 
it  was  "  a  brave  old  oak,"  which  springing  from 
a  poor  acorn,  but  growing  up  till  it  becomes  the 
branching  monarch  of  the  forest,  was  the  fit  em 
blem  of  their  church  and  commonwealth.  When 
the  public  services  of  that  day  were  closed,  four 
men,  agreeable  to  previous  arrangement,  formed 
themselves  into  a  visible  church  of  God,  by  en 
tering  into  a  solemn  covenant  with  God,  and 
with  each  other.  They  were  the  Governor 
Winthrop,  the  Deputy  governor  Dudley,  Mr. 
Isaac  Johnson,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson.  Many 
others  were  soon  after  added  to  their  commun 
ion  which  was  formed  by  signing  the  following 
covenant : — 

"  In  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
in  obedience  to  his  holy  will  and  divine  ordi 
nance. 


LIFE      OF     JOHN      WILSON.  31 

"  We  whose  names  are  here  underwritten,  be 
ing  by  his  most  wise  and  good  providence 
brought  together  into  this  part  of  America,  in 
the  Bay  of  Massachusetts,  and  desirous  to  unite 
into  one  congregation  or  church,  under  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  our  Head,  in  such  sort  as  be- 
cometh  all  those  whom  he  hath  redeemed,  and 
sanctified  to  himself,  do  hereby  solemnly  and  re 
ligiously,  as  in  his  most  holy  presence,  promise 
and  bind  ourselves  to  walk  in  all  our  ways  ac 
cording  to  the  rule  of  the  gospel,  and  in  all  sin 
cere  conformity  to  his  holy  ordinances,  and  in 
mutual  love  and  respect  to  each  other,  so  near 
as  God  shall  give  us  grace." 

At  the  first  Court  of  Assistants,  which  was 
held  in  Charlestown,  the  twenty-third  of  Au 
gust,  1630,  the  first  business  taken  into  consid 
eration  was  the  maintenance  of  the  ministry. 
It  was  ordered,  that  houses  be  built  for  Mr.  Wil 
son  and  Mr.  Phillips,  with  convenient  speed  at 
the  public  charge.  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall  un 
dertook  to  see  it  done  for  Mr.  Phillips,  at  Wa- 
tertown,  and  the  governor  was  to  do  the  same 
for  Mr.  Wilson,  at  Charlestown  settlement.  Mr. 
Phillips  was  to  have  thirty  pounds  a  year,  be 
ginning  at  the  first  of  September  following.  Mr. 
Wilson  was  to  have  twenty  pounds  a  year,  till 
his  wife  should  join  him,  beginning  from  the 


32  LIFE      OF     JOHN     WILSON. 


tenth  of  July  preceding.  These  dates,  doubt 
less,  indicate  the  times  in  which  their  stated 
labors  respectively  began.  These  salaries  were 
to  be  paid  at  the  common  charge  of  the  colony, 
excepting  the  settlers  at  Salem  and  Dorchester. 
Four  days  after  the  meeting  of  the  court,  be 
ing  the  last  Friday  in  August,  another  fast  was 
held,  when  Mr.  Wilson  was  chosen  teaching 
elder ;  Mr.  Increase  Nowell,  who  was  after 
wards  Secretary  of  the  colony  till  his  death  in 
1655,  was  chosen  ruling  elder  ;  William  Gager 
was  chosen  deacon,  whom  Governor  Dudley 
calls  "  a  right  godly  man,  a  skilful  chyrurgean," 
and  who  died  in  less  than  four  weeks  after. 
The  other  deacon  was  William  Aspinwall,  who 
was  a  notary  public.  These  were  all  set  apart 
to  their  respective  offices  by  the  laying  on  of  the 
hands  of  the  brethren.  Governor  Winthrop, 
who  was  active  on  the  occasion,  says  ; — "  We 
used  imposition  of  hands  ;  but  with  this  protes 
tation  by  all,  that  it  was  only  as  a  sign  of  elec 
tion  and  confirmation;  not  of  any  intent  that 
Mr.  Wilson  should  renounce  his  ministry  he  re 
ceived  in  England."*  It  is  singular  that  most 
of  our  historians  should  pay  so  little  regard  to 
this  distinct  and  explicit  protestation,  as  to  repre- 

*  Savage's  Winthrop,  Vol.  I.,  p.  32. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  33 

sent  our  fathers  of  this  colony  as  renouncing  the 
ordination  received  from  the  Church  in  me 
mother  country.  They  had  no  such  intention. 

Thus  they  organized,  and  furnished  with  its 
officers,  that  which  was  afterwards  known  as 
the  First  Church  of  Boston,  to  which  place 
most  of  the  members  removed  within  a  few 
weeks  from  these  transactions.  At  first  those 
who  removed  went  over  to  Charlestown  to  wor 
ship  on  the  Sabbath.  Very  soon  divine  service 
was  celebrated  alternately  on  each  side  of  the 
river  :  and  ere  long  the  First  Church  worship 
ed  altogether  on  the  trimontane  peninsula. 
Long  shone  that  Church  as  a  light  to  the  world, 
and  eminent  "  as  a  city  that  is  set  on  an  hill." 

The  next  year  Mr.  Wilson  sailed  for  Eng 
land.  Before  going,  on  the  twenty-ninth  of 
March,  1631,  he  met  with  the  principal  mem 
bers  of  the  congregation  at  the  governor's  resi 
dence.  Having  prayed  with  them,  he  exhorted 
them  to  love,  union  and  fidelity;  and  advised 
them,  during  his  absence,  to  use  the  liberty  of 
prophesying, — that  is,  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
gifts  of  the  lay-brethren  in  exhortation  and  re 
ligious  instruction.  He  designated  Governor 
Winthrop,  Mr.  Deputy  governor  Dudley,  and 
Mr.  Nowell  the  ruling  elders,  as  specially  fitted 
to  this  duty.  These  worthy  men  accepted  the 


34  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 


charge,  "  knowing  well,"  as  good  Mr.  Hubbard 
says,  "  that  the  princes  of  Judah,  in  king  Heze- 
kiah's  reign,  were  appointed  to  teach  the  people 
out  of  the  law  of  God."  The  interview  was 
closed  with  prayer  by  the  devout  governor,  at 
Mr.  Wilson's  request,  who  was  then  conducted 
to  the  boat  on  his  way  to  Charlestown,  from 
whence  he  went  by  land  to  Salem.  From,  this 
port  he  sailed,  with  many  other  passengers,  on 
the  first  of  April,  and  arrived  at  London  on  the 
twenty-ninth  of  the  same  month.  His  place 
was  speedily  supplied  by  Rev.  John  Eliot,  who 
arrived  soon  after  Mr.  Wilson's  departure. 

He  appears  to  have  been  unsuccessful  in  what 
had  probably  been  the  chief  object  of  his  voyage, 
the  attempt  to  persuade  his  wife  to  accompany 
him  into  the  formidable  desert.  The  good  re 
port  that  he  brought  of  the  land,  greatly  stirred 
up  the  hearts  of  others  to  seek  it.  Mrs.  Mar 
garet  Winthrop,  one  of  the  noblest  spirited  of 
the  old  puritan  dames,  fired  by  his  representa 
tions,  burned  to  be  crossing  the  ocean  to  join  her 
beloved  husband,  who  impatiently  waited  for 
her  coming.  In  a  letter  to  her  son  upon  this 
subject,  she  says  ; — "  Mr.  Wilson  is  now  in 
London.  He  cannot  yet  persuade  his  wife  to 
go,  for  all  he  hath  taken  this  pains  to  come  and 
fetch  her.  I  marvel  what  mettle  she  is  made  of. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  35 

Sure  she  will  yield  at  last,  or  else  we  shall  want 
him  exceedingly  in  New  England." 

It  is  a  strong  proof  of  Mr.  Wilson's  zeal  and 
resolution  in  the  path  of  duty,  that  he  returned 
to  his  flock,  though  unable  to  prevail  with  a 
wife  to  whom  he  was  tenderly  attached  to  join 
him  in  the  way.  He  reached  Boston  the  twen 
ty-sixth  of  May,  1632.  He  took  the  freeman's 
oath  on  the  ensuing  third  of  July.  This  latter 
step  evinced  his  fixed  purpose  to  settle  perma 
nently  in  this  country. 

During  that  month,  the  congregation  began  to 
erect  their  first  house  of  worship.  For  this,  and 
for  Mr.  Wilson's  dwelling-house,  they  made  a 
voluntary  contribution  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
pounds.  Wilson's  Lane,  leading  from  State 
Street  to  Dock  Square,  derives  its  name  from 
the  parsonage  which  stood  therein.  The  meet 
ing-house  stood  near  the  corner  of  Exchange 
and  State  streets.  With  its  walls  of  mud,  and 
its  low  thatched  roof,  it  was  indeed  an  humble 
structure  to  be  the  dwelling-place  of  the  Most 
High.  But  "  though  the  Lord  be  high,  yet 
hath  he  respect  unto  the  lowly."  The  Son  of 
God  himself  dwelt  in  a  tabernacle  of  clay :  and 
Avhen  he  arose  from  the  dead,  and  ascended  on 
high,  he  glorified  that  mortal  dust.  It  has  been 
the  ordinary  course  of  divine  providence,  "  that 


36  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

great  endings  should  start  from  small  begin 
nings."  Morton  in  his  "  New  England's  Me 
morial,"  speaking  of  this  very  church,  remark 
ed  ; — "  Thus  out  of  small  beginnings  greater 
things  have  been  produced  by  his  hand  that 
made  all  things  of  nothing :  and  as  one  small 
candle  may  light  a  thousand,  so  the  light  here 
kindled  hath  shone  unto  many;  yea,  in  some 
sort,  to  our  whole  nation.  Let  the  glorious 
name  of  Jehovah  have  the  praise  in  all  ages." 

In  Governor  Winthrop's  journal,  under  the 
date  of  the  fifth  of  July,  1632,  there  is  a  curious 
entry,  which  suits  well  to  this  connection,  and 
which  is  characteristic  of  the  time  when  it  was 
penned.^  "  At  Watertown,  there  was,  in  the 
view  of  divers  witnesses,  a  great  combat  between 
a  mouse  and  a  snake  ;  and,  after  a  long  fight, 
the  mouse  prevailed  and  killed  the  snake.  The 
pastor  of  Boston,  Mr.  Wilson,  a  very  sincere, 
holy  man,  hearing  of  it,  gave  this  interpreta 
tion  :  That  the  snake  was  the  devil ;  the  mouse 
was  a  poor  contemned  people,  which  God  had 
brought  hither,  which  should  overcome  Satan 
here,  and  dispossess  him  of  his  kingdom."  Upon 
the  same  occasion,  he  told  the  governor,  that  is 
to  say,  Winthrop  himself,  "  that,  before  he  was 

*  Savage's  Winthrop,  I,  81. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  37 

resolved  to  come  into  this  country,  he  dreamed 
he  was  here,  and  that  he  saw  a  church  arise  out 
of  the  earth,  which  grew  up  and  became  a  mar 
velous  goodly  church." 

Had  our  good  Mr.  Wilson  lived  among  the 
Pharaohs,  he  would  have  been  styled,  like  Jo 
seph,  Zaphnath-paaneah,  which  is  by  interpreta 
tion,  "  A  revealer  of  secrets."  His  explanation 
of  the  combat  and  his  significant  dream,  must  be 
regarded  as  prophetic,  if  it  be  allowed  that  every 
prediction  which  actually  comes  to  pass,  is  a  true 
prophecy.  Our  fathers,  no  doubt,  paid  too  much 
attention  to  signs  and  omens  of  that  futurity 
which  is  so  dark  to  all,  but  into  which  all  are 
prone  to  look  with  anxious  and  searching  gaze. 
It  may  be,  that,  in  the  explanation  of  the  une 
qual  contest  between  the  mouse  and  snake,  Mr. 
Wilson  meant  no  more  than  to  turn  the  incident 
into  an  allegory.  Men  were  formerly  much  de 
lighted  with  such  parables.  The  excellent  Fla- 
vel  wrote  one  sizeable  book  called  "  Husbandry 
Spiritualized,"  and  another  named  "  Navigation 
Spiritualized,"  in  both  of  which,  those  callings 
are  allegorically  treated  in  a  very  ingenious  and 
instructive  manner,  without  any  thing  like  super 
stition.  The  night-vision  of  the  rising  church 
speaks  for  itself.  It  needs  no  "  Belteshazzar  "  to 
expound  its  import.  To  a  thoughtful  and  imag- 
VOL.  n.  4 


38  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

inative  man,  without  being  at  all  regarded  as  a 
special  revelation,  it  might  well  seem  to  encour 
age  high  expectation  and  strenuous  effort.  Many 
instances  are  on  record,  of  men  of  ardent  piety 
who,  in  difficult  circumstances,  have  been  guided 
to  happy  issues  by  hints  of  this  nature.  Why 
should  it  be  deemed  incredible,  that  He  "  who 
heareth  prayer  "  should  in  such  ways  intimate 
his  will,  and  lead  the  minds  of  his  servants  to 
ward  the  best  results  ? 

On  the  twenty-fifth  of  October,  Mr.  "Wilson 
with  the  governor,  and  a  few  other  men  of  note, 
set  out  on  a  friendly  visit  to  the  colony  at  Ply 
mouth.  Here  they  had  a  very  generous  and 
hospitable  reception,  having  gone  in  a  pinnace 
as  far  as  Weymouth  the  first  day,  and  traveled 
the  rest  of  the  way  the  next  day,  in  independent 
style,  on  foot.  On  the  Sabbath,  a  sacrament  was 
held,  at  which  the  guest's  partook.  In  the  after 
noon  a  singular  scene  took  place,  which  gives  us 
a  view  of  the  mode  in  which  public  worship  was 
maintained  by  the  emigrants  from  Leyden.  Rev. 
Roger  Williams,  their  teacher,  proposed  a  ques 
tion  for  consideration.  The  pastor,  Mr.  Ralph 
Smith  spoke  briefly  upon  it.  Then  Mr.  Wil 
liams  "prophesied, "or  explained  upon  it.  Next 
Governor  Bradford  of  Plymouth,  a  learned  man, 
discussed  the  matter  :  and  after  him  William 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  39 

Brevvster,  the  ruling  elder,  and  also  a  man  of 
cultivated  mind,  continued  the  discussion.  He 
was  followed  by  two  or  three  of  the  brethren  of 
that  church.  Then  the  ruling  elder,  according  to 
a  custom  used  in  the  synagogues  in  the  time  of 
the  apostles,  called  upon  Governor  Winthrop  and 
Mr.  Wilson  to  speak  to  the  point  in  hand,  which 
they  severally  did.  The  matter  having  been 
thus  thoroughly  deliberated,  the  deacon,  Samuel 
Fuller,  reminded  the  congregation  of  the  duty  of 
contributing  to  the  gospel.  Upon  this,  Governor 
Bradford,  that  "right  worshipful  man, "goes  to  the 
deacon's  seat,  and  others  after  him ;  jind  having 
deposited  their  offerings  in  the  bag,  they  returned 
to  their  places.  This  religious  exercise  was  origi 
nally  introduced  by  their  revered  John  Robinson, 
who  grounded  it  upon  the  practice  of  the  Christ 
ians  at  Corinth,  as  described  by  Paul  in  his  first 
epistle  to  the  church  in  that  place.  It  was,  after 
a  while,  disused,  as  being  peculiarly  appropriate 
only  in  an  age  when  those  who  prophesied  did 
so  by  direct  revelation  from  God.  Such  a  prac 
tice  could  hardly  work  to  advantage,  except  in  a 
church  where  some  of  the  brethren  have  the  gift 
of  speaking  to  edification  ;  and  the  rest  have  the 
rarer  and  richer  gift  of  holding  their  peace. 
There  is  great  truth  in  the  rabbinical  proverb  ; 
— "  Speech  may  be  silver,  but  silence  is  gold." 


40  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

On  the  Wednesday  following  the  Sabbath  just 
described,  the  Boston  company,  having  been 
honorably  entertained,  and  affectionately  escorted 
on  their  way  out  of  Plymouth,  set  out  for  home 
with  great  contentment.  Governor  Winthrop 
returned  in  grander  state  than  he  went,  on  Gov 
ernor  Bradford's  horse.  In  those  slow  and  sure, 
and  steady  times,  as  they  plodded  along  their 
weary  way,  we  may  be  sure  that  "  the  Old  Col 
ony  Railroad  "  was  not  in  their  thoughts. 

The  congregation  at  Boston  held  a  solemn  fast 
on  the  22d  of  November.  This  day  Mr.  Thomas 
Oliver  was  chosen  a  ruling  elder,  and  was  or 
dained  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the 
teacher  and  the  two  deacons,  in  the  name  of  the 
congregation.  Mr.  Wilson,  who  had  before  been 
ordained  teacher,  was  now  chosen  to  be  pastor  of 
the  church,  and  was  set  apart  to  that  office  by 
the  imposition  of  hands  of  the  ruling  elder,  and 
the  deacons.  This  circumstance  confirms  the 
remark  that  was  made  in  regard  to  Mr.  Wilson's 
installation  as  teacher,  that  our  fathers  did  not 
consider  this  ceremony  of  laying  on  of  hands  as 
any  renunciation  of  a  ministry  previously  re 
ceived.  So  they  declared  by  express  protestation 
in  the  first  instance ;  and  in  this  second  instance, 
they  manifest  the  same  in  practice,  for  it  is  cer 
tain  they  had  no  thought  of  nullifying  their  own 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  41 

act  in  the  first.  Undoubtedly  both  Paul  and 
Barnabas  had  been  fully  clothed  with  the  minis 
terial  office,  before  the  church  at  Antioch  sent 
them  on  their  famous  mission  to  Asia  Minor  : 
and  yet  they  were  specially  set  apart  to  that  work 
by  fasting  and  prayer,  and  laying  on  of  hands 
of  certain  prophets  and  teachers,  certainly  of  no 
higher  rank  than  Paul  and  his  companion. 

During  the  first  and  second  years,  the  Massa 
chusetts  colony  received  but  small  reinforcement 
of  numbers  from  the  mother  country.  But  in 
1633,  and  for  seven  years  after,  the  accessions  to 
its  strength  were  very  numerous  and  valuable, 
and  the  new  settlements  spread  themselves  in  all 
directions.  Among  others  who  "  were  famous 
in  the  congregation,  men  of  renown,"  was  Rev. 
John  Cotton.  He  was  ordained,  in  the  capacity 
of  teacher  of  the  church,  as  colleague  with  Mr. 
Wilson,  on  the  fourth  of  September,  1633. 
These  luminaries  shone  together,  though  with 
different  colored  rays,  in  the  same  conspicuous 
sphere.  If  the  teacher  shone  with  more  of  bril 
liance  and  illumination,  the  pastor  glowed  with 
a  warmer  and  more  genial  radiance. 

Mr.  Wilson's  missionary  spirit  led  him  to  ex 
tend  his  labors  to  the  destitute  settlements  which 
were  then  springing  up  in  what  we  may  call 
"  the  front-woods  "  of  this  forest-world.  Thus, 
4* 


42  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

on  the  twenty-sixth  of  November,  he  went,  by 
special  leave  from  his  own  congregation,  to 
Agawam,  now  called  Ipswich,  to  preach  to  that 
plantation,  which  was  not  yet  furnished  with  a 
minister.  Here,  notwithstanding  the  earliness 
of  the  season,  he  was  detained  for  some  days 
beyond  his  intention  by  the  depth  of  the  snow, 
and  the  freezing  of  the  river.  Long  and  rigor 
ous  as  our  winters  appear  to  us,  the  climate  seems 
to  be  much  ameliorated  from  what  it  was  in  the 
hard  times  of  our  fathers.  This  change  has  been 
ascribed  to  the  disafforesting  of  so  large  a  part  of 
the  continent,  and  laying  the  soil  more  open  to 
the  sun. 

The  missionary  efforts  of  Mr.  Wilson  extended 
to  the  unevangelized  savages.  Johnson,  of  "won 
der-working  "  memory,  informs  us,  that  "  the 
English  at  their  first  coming  did  assay  and  en 
deavor  to  bring  them  to  the  knowledge  of  God  : 
and,  in  particular,  the  reverend,  grave  and  godly 
Mr.  John  Wilson,  who  visited  their  sick,  and 
instructed  others  as  they  were  capable  to  under 
stand  him."  From  Johnson's  further  remarks, 
it  appears  that  the  venerable  pastor  of  Boston, 
was  the  first  protestant  minister,  who  attempted 
as  he  had  opportunity,  to  impart  the  gospel  to 
the  North  American  Indians.  The  work  was 


LIFE      OF     JOHN      WILSON.  43 

soon  after  undertaken  with  great  diligence  and 
success  by  the  apostolic  Eliot  and  others. 

When  our  fathers  came  here,  Sagamore  John 
or  Wonohaquaham,  was  the  chief  to  whom  be 
longed  the  territory  about  Charlestown,  having 
under  him  about  thirty  warriors.  He  was  the 
eldest  son  of  the  "  squaw-sachem,"  whose  second 
husband  was  the  priest  Webcowet.  In  1644,  she 
submitted,  with  several  other  chiefs,  to  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  colony  ;  and  agreed  that  the  chil 
dren  of  her  subjects  should  be  taught  the  Bible. 
It  is  supposed  that  she  died  in  1667,  at  a  great 
age,  blind  and  helpless,  at  a  fort  of  the  Nipmuks, 
in  consequence  of  ill-treatment  from  a  hostile 
party  of  the  Narragansetts.  Sagamore  John's 
father  was  the  sachem  Nanepashemet,  who  was 
slain  by  the  Tarrentines  or  Eastern  Indians, 
about  1619. 

Sagamore  John  is  spoken  of  in  Charlestown 
records,  as  a  chief  "  of  gentle  and  good  disposi 
tion,"  who  gave  leave  to  the  emigrants  from 
Salem  to  settle  in  that  place,  then  known  as 
Mishawum.  From  the  first,  he  was  friendly  to 
the  English.  In  April  and  May  of  1630,  the 
colonists  were  in  great  alarm  because  of  a  con 
spiracy  among  most  of  the  Indian  tribes  to  cut 
off  the  new  settlements,  beginning  with  an  attack 
upon  Plymouth.  The  plot  was  exposed  by 


44  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

Sagamore  John;  so  that  the  English  were  ena 
bled  to  break  it  up.  He  had  ever  been  extremely 
courteous  to  the  English,  and  tried  to  learn  their 
language,  and  imitate  their  customs.  Convinced 
of  the  superiority  of  their  religion,  he  even  de 
sired  to  adopt  it,  and  live  among  them  as  a  fellow 
Christian  :  but  was  hindered  by  the  bitter  oppo 
sition  of  the  heathen  Indians.  In  the  year  1632 
he  was  seized  by  a  disease  then  most  terrible, 
and  which  has  not  lost  all  its  terrors  now, — the 
small-pox.  This  fatal  malady  had  never  been 
known  among  the  natives  before  the  arrival  of 
Europeans.  Poor  Sagamore  John  now  sadly 
lamented  his  want  of  decision.  At  his  own 
desire,  he  was  removed  among  the  English ; 
and  promised,  if  he  recovered,  to  live  with  them, 
and  serve  their  God.  He  soon  relinquished  the 
hope  of  recovery.  "  Now,"  said  he,  "  I  must 
die.  The  God  of  the  English  is  much  angry 
with  me,  and  will  destroy  me.  Ah,  I  was  afraid 
of  the  scoffs  of  the  wicked  Indians.  Yet  my 
child  shall  live  with  the  English,  and  learn  to 
know  their  God  when  I  am  dead."  Mr.  Wilson 
visited  this  forlorn  and  perishing  creature,  and 
with  Christian  tenderness  ministered  to  the  wants 
of  his  body  and  his  soul.  To  his  care  the  dying 
chieftain  committed  his  only  child,  saying; — 
"  Mr.  Wilson  is  much  good  man,  and  much  love 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  45 

me."  This  son  of  the  forest,  once  the  savage 
lord  of  these  peopled  hills,  expired  soon  after,  on 
the  fifth  day  of  December.  Governor  Winthrop 
says  ; — "  He  died  in  a  persuasion  that  he  should 
go  to  the  Englishman's  God."  It  may  be,  he  is 
known  in  a  better  world,  as  "  the  first  fruits  of" 
New  England  "  unto  Christ." 

He  gave  to  the  governor  a  good  quantity  of 
wampumpeague,  a  sort  of  current-coin  among  the 
Indians.  It  was  composed  of  beads,  made  from 
various  colored  marine  shells,  and  often  arranged 
in  very  tasteful  figures  on  belts,  and  other  articles 
of  dress.  In  old  times  it  served,  in  part,  as  a 
currency  in  the  dealings  of  the  English  with 
each  other,  as  well  as  with  the  Indians.  The 
dying  sagamore  gave  gifts  to  several  other  Eng 
lishmen  :  and  took  order  for  the  payment  of  his 
own  debts,  and  the  debts  of  his  men.  His  will 
was,  that  all  the  wampum  and  coats  left,  should 
be  given  to  his  mother  :  and  his  land  about 
Powder-horn  Hill,  in  Chelsea,  which  was  proba 
bly  his  usual  residence,  was  to  go  to  his  son ; 
and  in  case  of  his  son's  decease,  it  was  to  pass 
to  his  brother  George,  the  sachem  of  Naumkeag 
or  Salem,  and  ultimately  the  claimant  of  all  the 
domain  of  his  father  Nanepashemet. 

Mr.  Wilson  cheerfully  accepted  his  difficult 
charge.  He  took  into  his  family  the  fatherless 


46  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

child,  of  whom  we  only  know,  that  he  was  dead 
some  time,  perhaps  a  considerable  time,  before 
the  eleventh  of  May,  1651,  when  his  uncle 
George  petitioned  the  General  Court  for  the  land 
conditionally  left  him  by  his  brother.  Almost 
the  whole  tribe  perished  about  the  same  time 
with  sagamore  John,  and  with  the  same  fell  dis 
ease.  Mr.  Maverick  of  Wmnesimmet,  who, 
with  his  whole  family,  made  the  most  honorable 
exertions  to  relieve  the  sufferers,  had  the  melan 
choly  task  of  burying  thirty  of  them  in  one  day. 
Many  of  the  orphan  children  were  distributed 
among  families  in  the  towns  on  the  Bay  :  but 
most  of  them  died  soon  after  of  the  same  wasting 
plague,  which  had  proved  so  fatal  to  their  pa 
rents.  But  three  of  these  poor  children  survived 
to  maturer  age.  One  of  them,  taken  by  the  gov 
ernor,  was  called  Know-  God  ;  because  it  was 
the  Indians  usual  answer,  when  questioned  on 
the  subject  of  their  knowledge  of  a  Supreme 
Being: — "Me  no  know  God." 

Many  of  them,  in  their  last  sickness,  owned 
that  the  Englishmen's  God  was  a  good  being ; 
and  professed  a  resolution  to  serve  him,  if  life 
should  be  spared.  As  to  the  cause  of  this  im 
pression,  "  it  wrought  much  with  them,"  writes 
Winthrop,  "  that  when  their  own  people  forsook 
them,  yet  the  English  came  daily,  and  minis- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  47 

tered  to  them  :  and  yet  few,  only  two  families, 
took  any  infection  by  it."  How  often  has  it 
been  found  that  a  courageous  benevolence  is  also 
the  safest.  How  often  too  has  the  key  of  kind 
ness  unlocked  the  heart  which  was  firmly  fast 
ened  against  the  entrance  of  force  or  persuasion. 

Among  the  neigh  boring  tribes,  civilization  and 
religion  went  hand  in  hand.  Mr.  Wilson,  with 
three  other  ministers  and  some  of  the  brethren, 
visited  the  "  praying  Indians  "  at  Nonantum  in 
1647,  for  the  twofold  purpose  of  instructing  them 
and  supplying  their  necessities.  Here  they  had 
built  with  their  own  hands  a  house  of  worship 
fifty  feet  by  twenty-five,  which  Mr.  Wilson  says, 
"  appeared  like  the  workmanship  of  an  English 
house  wright." 

Our  fathers  have  been  very  unjustly  taxed  with 
neglecting  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  Indians. 
Whoever  informs  himself  as  to  the  life  and  labors 
of  John  Eliot,  will  see,  that  the  charge  is  utterly 
groundless  :  and  that  they  labored  in  this  field 
with  great  zeal,  perseverance  and  success.  The 
blessing  of  God  has  never  rested  on  Indian  mis 
sions  more  largely  than  it  did  in  their  day. 
They  were,  many  of  them,  the  more  ready  to 
engage  in  this  holy  undertaking,  in  their  eager 
ness  to  disappoint  the  devil.  For  "  finding  it 
difficult  to  account  for  the  first  peopling  of  the 


48  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

western  hemisphere,  many  in  New  England 
ascribed  it  to  the  aid  of  the  devil,  who  thought 
by  removing  a  part  of  the  human  race  thither, 
they  would  be  forever  placed  out  of  the  reach  of 
the  gospel."  This  explanation  will  not  seem  to 
us  very  plausible  :  but  it  has  the  poor  merit  of 
being  quite  as  much  so  as  almost  any  that  has 
been  propounded  by  the  learned. 

Our  ancestors  have  been  heavily  charged  with 
injustice  in  dispossessing  the  Indians  of  the  soil. 

The  Massachusetts  settlers  found  the  country, 
in  a  manner,  depopulated  by  a  wasting  pesti 
lence  which  swept  away  some  entire  tribes, 
about  the  year  1618.  Most  of  the  remnants  of 
the  people  were  very  few  and  feeble,  who  culti 
vated  but  a  very  small  portion  of  the  country,  of 
which,  by  far  the  greater  part  lay  waste,  and 
without  inhabitant.  King  James'  charter  speci 
fies  this  as  one  of  the  reasons  for  planting  a 
region,  which  our  forefathers,  in  legal  phrase, 
called  a  "  vacant  domicile." 

However  contrary  it  may  be  to  the  prevailing 
impression,  it  is  still  the  fact,  that  the  coming  of 
the  pilgrims  served  to  prolong  the  existence  of 
these  enfeebled  tribes.  John  Cotton  has  made 
the  following  record  ; — "  The  Indians  in  these 
parts  being  by  the  hand  of  God  swept  away, 
many  multitudes  of  them,  by  the  plague,  the 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  49 

manner  of  the  neighbor-Indians  is,  either  to  des 
troy  the  weaker  countries,  or  to  make  them  trib 
utary  ;  which  danger,  ready  to  fall  upon  their 
heads,  in  these  parts,  the  coming  of  the  English 
hither  prevented."*  This  explains  why  most  of 
the  smaller  bands  were,  from  the  first,  disposed 
to  form  close  alliances  with  the  white  men ; 
while  the  more  powerful  tribes  were  disposed  to 
look  with  hostile  aspect  on  these  foreign  protec 
tors  of  the  weak. 

The  treaty  made  with  the  Indians  by  William 
Penn  in  1682,  has  been  extolled  beyond  measure 
for  the  fairness  and  justice  of  its  provisions. 
And  yet  it  differs  in  no  important  respect,  from 
all  the  treaties  which  the  New  England  colo 
nies  had  made  long  before,  for  similar  purposes. 
The  earliest  instructions  sent  from  the  mother 
country  to  Endecot,  upon  the  settling  of  Salem, 
required  him  to  extinguish  the  Indian  title  to  the 
soil  on  equitable  terms.  Though  the  title  of 
many  of  the  Indian  claimants  to  the  tracts  which 
they  ceded,  was  exceedingly  dubious,  yet  the 
settlers  were  always  scrupulous  in  quieting  such 
claims,  however  slight  the  grounds  on  which 
they  were  made.  The  late  President,  John 
Adams,  remarked  that,  in  all  his  legal  experience, 

*  Way  of  Congregational  Churches  cleared,  p.  21, 
VOL.    II.       5 


50  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

he  never  knew  a  land-title  contested  in  the  courts, 
without  its  being  traced  up  to  the  original  pur 
chase  from  the  Indians.  It  cannot  be  pretended, 
that  the  treaty  for  which  Penn  is  so  much 
praised,  made  a  compensation  for  the  land  ac 
quired  by  him,  more  just  and  equal  than  what 
the  New  England  colonists  bestowed  in  like 
cases.  There  are  no  means  of  knowing  what 
consideration  he  gave  for  the  territory  he  ob 
tained.  It  cannot  be  said,  that  it  was  more  or 
less  than  what  the  pilgrims  and  their  associates 
were  in  the  habit  of  giving. 

"We  hear  of  large  tracts,  comprising  perhaps, 
whole  townships  now  of  great  value,  as  being 
bought  of  the  savages  for  a  sum  so  small  as  to 
seem  little  better  than  nominal.  At  first,  this 
may  appear  like  an  unrighteous  imposition  on 
the  ignorance  of  the  savage  sellers.  But  it  was 
not  so.  The  colonists  paid  for  their  land  all 
that  it  was  worth  at  the  time  of  the  purchase. 
In  fact,  it  had  no  value,  except  what  it  was  to 
acquire  under  the  change  of  ownership,  by  the 
industry  of  the  new  occupants.  It  could  not  be 
estimated  at  any  fixed  price,  until  it  was  subdued 
and  cultivated  by  the  sturdy  settlers  who  began 
to  make  it  what  it  is.  The  whole  site  of  some 
of  the  wealthiest  cities  in  the  United  States,  like 
Cincinnati,  Lowell  and  Rochester,  were,  each  of 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  51 


them,  bought  for  a  few  thousands  of  dollars  of 
their  American  proprietors  not  many  years  ago. 
But  who  thinks  of  reproaching  the  present  own 
ers  on  this  account  ?  Their  enterprise  and 
industry  created  a  vast  increase  in  the  value  of 
the  property  :  and  it  is  but  just,  that  they  should 
enjoy  the  work  of  their  hands. 

There  is  a  further  proof  that  our  ancestors 
paid  for  their  land  all  that  it  was  worth  to  its 
former  possessors.  They  sold  it  out  to  other 
Europeans  at  prices  equally  .insignificant.  Much 
of  it  was  given  away  on  condition  of  being  set 
tled  within  a  limited  time  :  for  it  was  not  worth 
so  much  as  the  presence  of  another  settler  and 
fellow-helper  in  the  infant  community.  Even 
after  it  was  transferred  from  the  hands  of  the 
Indians  to  those  of  white  men  ;  its  value  did  not 
begin  to  be  enhanced  till  it  was  put  into  a  way 
of  being  turned  from  a  wilderness  to  a  fruitful 
field.  So  late  as  the  year  1716,  in  the  old  col 
ony  of  Connecticut,  more  than  one  hundred  and 
seven  thousand  acres  of  land  were  sold  for  six 
hundred  and  eighty-three  pounds  of  New  Eng 
land  currency  ;  which  is  at  the  rate  of  two  cents 
an  acre.  It  is  well  known  that  in  all  new  coun 
tries,  settlers  are  encouraged  to  come,  at  the  out 
set  by  donations  of  land,  and  sometimes  by  ad 
ditional  gratuities.  This  is  clear  proof  that 


52  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 


their  coming  is  a  greater  favor  to  the  grantor, 
than  the  gift  of  a  farm  is  to  the  grantee,  who,  in 
improving  his  lot,  raises  the  value  of  all  the 
land  around  it.  A  little  reflection  will  show 
that  the  Indians  suffered  no  injustice  in  the 
terms  on  which  they  transferred  their  territory 
to  our  fathers.  It  ill  becomes  the  present  gen 
eration  to  reproach  their  ancestors  upon  this 
point.  Never  did  the  Indians  receive  at  the 
hands  of  our  fathers  such  treatment  as  they 
have  suffered  from  our  people  within  the  present 
century.  The  removal  of  the  Cherokees,  if 
there  were  no  other  case  of  the  kind,  may  well 
seal  our  lips  to  silence  on  this  subject. 

It  is  certain,  that  the  conversion  of  the  natives 
to  Christianity  was  one  of  the  leading  motives 
which  induced  our  fathers  to  engage  in  their 
venturous  enterprise  on  these  shores.  They 
omitted  no  opportunity  to  instruct  the  "  untutor 
ed  mind,"  in  the  worship  of  God.  The  haughty 
Miantonomoh,  the  sachem  of  the  Narragansetts, 
when  he  was  the  guest  of  the  honored  Win- 
throp,  was  the  auditor  of  Mr.  Wilson,  in  that 
low-browed  temple  with  its  overhanging  eaves 
of  thatch. 

The  Boston  church  was  highly  prospered 
under  Mr.  Wilson  and  his  colleague,  John  Cot 
ton.  Soon  after  the  latter  commenced  his  labors, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  53 

there  was  a  revival  of  religion,  in  which,  among 
other  converts,  "  divers  profane  and  notorious 
evil  persons  were  brought  to  experience  the 
power  of  religion."  "Also  the  Lord  pleased 
greatly  to  bless  the  practice  of  discipline,  where 
in  he  gave  the  pastor,  Mr.  Wilson,  a  singular 
gift,  to  the  great  benefit  of  the  church."  So 
high  was  his  repute  in  this  particular,  that  the 
renowned  Dr.  Ames  is  known  to  have  said; — 
"  If  he  might  have  his  option  of  the  best  condi 
tion  he  could  propound  unto  himself  on  this  side 
heaven,  it  would  be,  that  he  might  be  the  teacher 
of  a  congregational  church,  whereof  Mr.  Wilson 
should  be  the  pastor. 

In  common  with  other  leading  ministers  in 
the  colony,  Mr.  Wilson  was  often  consulted  by 
the  magistrates  in  difficult  and  important  mat 
ters.  And  so  far  as  the  ministerial  counsels  are 
recorded,  it  is  noticeable  that,  in  all  cases,  they 
strenuously  maintained  the  chartered  rights  of 
the  colony.  They  favored  no  timid  or  half 
way  courses,  no  compliances  or  concessions, 
which  could  impair  their  cherished  liberties. 
Sometimes  the  royal  prerogative  advanced  to  the 
very  verge  of  absolute  sway,  and  demanded 
instant  surrender  of  the  precious  immunities  of 
the  infant  commonwealth.  But  the  ministers 
ever  strengthened  the  hands  of  the  magistrates  to 
5* 


54  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

cling  to  their  charter  with  closer  grasp.  They 
never  advised  open  resistance,  which  must  have 
led  to  instant  destruction ;  but  always  suggested 
plausible  grounds  of  evasion ;  and  proposed 
grounds  of  delay,  and  protracted  negotiation. 
It  is  wonderful  to  observe  how  long  these  meas 
ures  availed,  in  connection  with  favoring  provi 
dences,  to  preserve  their  patent  from  violation. 
And  when,  at  last,  the  treasure  was  wrested 
away,  it  was  found  that  the  young  community 
had  grown  up  to  be  strong  enough  to  bear  the 
loss  without  fainting.  The  clergy  cherished  the 
spirit  of  liberty  among  the  people,  as  a  religious 
passion  :  and  it  wrought  intensely,  till  it  worked 
out  entire  political  independence. 

There  is  a  curious  instance  of  the  disposition 
of  our  fathers  to  seek  the  counsel  of  the  minis 
ters  in  matters  very  foreign  to  their  calling; 
and  which  is  related  in  Winthrop's  Journal. 
It  seems  there  was  reason  to  fear,  that  the 
French  were  intending  to  become  too  near 
neighbors.  Among  other  precautions,  it  was 
proposed  to  begin  a  plantation  and  fort  at  Nan- 
tasket,  to  prevent  the  French  from  taking  pos 
session  of  that  place.  An  expedition  was  got 
up  to  view  the  spot,  and  decide  what  should 
be  done  there.  On  the  twenty-first  of  Feb 
ruary,  being  a  very  sunshiny,  vernal  sort  of  day, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  55 

the  governor,  and  four  of  the  assistants,  and 
three  of  the  ministers,  of  whom  Mr.  Wilson  was 
undoubtedly  one,  with  others,  making  twenty- 
six  in  all,  went  to  Nantasket  in  three  boats. 
While  they  were  there,  the  wind  suddenly 
changed  to  the  North-west,  extremely  cold,  and 
so  violent  as  to  detain  them  there  two  nights. 
They  had  to  lie  on  the  ground  in  an  open  hut, 
upon  a  little  old  straw  pulled  from  the  thatch. 
They  were  forced  to  lie  in  a  heap,  to  keep  from 
freezing  :  and  to  eat  raw  muscles,  for  want  of 
other  fare.  On  the  third  day,  they  got  safe 
home  ;  having  come  to  the  conclusion,  that  it 
was  needless,  for  the  present,  to  fortify  a  place 
which  was  so  sternly  defended  by  the  severity  of 
its  climate. 

Mr.  Wilson  returned  to  England,  for  the  last 
time,  late  in  the  fall  of  1634.  He  sailed  for 
Barnstable,  with  John  Winthrop,  the  younger, 
in  whom  shone  all  the  virtues  of  his  father  with 
undiminished  lustre.  The  ship  was  small  and 
weak,  and  they  were  repeatedly  in  imminent 
danger  of  being  wrecked.  They  were  driven 
by  a  tempest  upon  the  perilous  coast  of  Ireland, 
with  which  no  one  in  the  ship  was  acquainted. 
After  escaping  some  desperate  risks,  they  got 
into  Galloway.  From  this  place,  Mr.  Winthrop 
Went  by  land  to  Dublin.  Mr.  Wilson  proceed- 


56  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

ing  in  the  ship  by  sea,  came  within  sight  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Severn,  when  another  furious 
storm  drove  his  vessel  back  to  Kinsale  on  the 
Irish  coast,  where  a  number  of  vessels  perished 
in  full  view.  Being  thus  forced  to  make  some 
stay  in  Ireland,  both  he  and  the  governor's  wor 
thy  son  exerted  themselves  strenuously  to  pro 
mote  the  interests  of  religion  in  New  England, 
wherever  they  came.  At  last  they  got  safe 
back  among  old  friends  in  England,  with  hearty 
and  joyous  welcome.  Their  travels  extended 
into  Scotland  and  the  north  of  England:  and 
wherever  they  went,  they  gave  much  satisfac 
tion  to  Christian  people  about  the  prospects  of 
New  England,  and  stirred  up  many  to  make  it 
their  future  home. 

One  object  of  Mr.  Wilson's  voyage  was  to 
secure  a  legacy  of  a  thousand  pounds,  which  his 
brother,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wilson  had  bequeathed  to 
the  colony.  If  this  large  bequest  had  been  left 
to  our  Boston  pastor,  he  would  have  been  no 
better  pleased.  He  was  happy  to  see  the  country 
benefited,  though  at  the  expense  of  his  own  in 
heritance.  This  sum  was  laid  out  in  procuring 
artillery  for  the  defence  of  Boston  settlement. 
The  purchase  of  cannons  rnay  seem  an  unca- 
nonical  use  of  a  clergyman's  gift,  which  should 
have  thundered  in  the  pulpit  rather  than  on  the 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  57 

battery.  But  in  those  warlike  and  troublous 
times,  even  men  of  God  wielded  either  the  civil 
or  the  ecclesiastical  sword,  according  to  the  na 
ture  of  the  dangers  which  assailed  their  beloved 
flocks.  They  built  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  as 
in  Nehemiah's  day,  with  the  implements  of  labor 
in  their  hands,  and  the  weapons  of  defence 
ready  girded  to  their  side. 

On  all  occasions,  Mr.  Wilson  held  up  the  fa 
vorable  representations,  which  he  had  before  sent 
over  in  writing,  of  the  admirable  civil  and  relig 
ious  order  which  was  now  well  settled  in  the 
new  plantation.  He  strove  to  engage  as  many 
good  men  as  he  could  in  this  great  enterprise. 
He  had  a  joyful  visit  with  his  old  parishioners, 
at  Sudbury,  according  to  what  he  had  intimated 
when  bidding  them  farewell  previous  to  his  last 
voyage  to  America.  "It  may  be,"  he  said, 
"  John  Wilson  may  come  and  see  Sudbury  once 
again."  He  thus  fulfilled  this  long  indulged 
desire  of  his  affectionate  heart,  which  clung 
fondly  to  those  scenes  of  former  and  successful 
labor  in  the  gospel.  Such  spots  no  servant  of 
God  can  ever  forget,  or  cease  to  love.  From 
thence  he  went  to  visit  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Rog 
ers,  who  afterwards  came  to  this  country,  and 
lived  and  died  as  pastor  of  the  church  in  Ips 
wich.  Mr.  Wilson  happened  to  arrive  at  his 


58  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

friend's  house  just  before  morning  prayers.  He 
was  requested  to  offer  some  remarks  upon  the 
chapter  which  was  read,  and  which  chanced  to 
be  the  first  chapter  of  the  First  Book  of  Chroni 
cles.  Though  it  is  a  mere  genealogical  chapter, 
made  up  of  proper  names,  and  apparently  sug 
gesting  no  matter  for  remark,  the  pious  pilgrim- 
guest  soon  showed  that  to  a  devoutly  studious 
mind  "  all.  Scripture  is  profitable."  He  com 
mented  on  the  passage  with  such  pertinence  and 
fullness  of  edifying  matter,  that  a  good  man, 
who  was  present,  was  amazed,  and  could  never 
after  rest  till  he  had  followed  him  to  America. 

But  though  so  successful  in  directing  the 
steps  of  many  excellent  people  toward  this  dis 
tant  land,  he  failed  to  persuade  one  who  was 
dearer  to  him  than  all.  His  wife  long  remained 
unwilling  to  accompany  him.  The  gentle 
daughter  of  Sir  John  Mansfield  was  bound  to 
her  native  soil  by  clinging  affections  which  not 
all  the  power  of  conjugal  love  seemed  likely  to 
loosen.  Her  discouraged  husband  made  his  last 
appeal  to  Him  who  has  all  hearts  in  his  hand, 
to  turn  them  as  he  will.  On  a  day  of  fasting, 
which  he  observed  for  this  special  object,  his 
many  prayers  were  answered.  His  wife  became 
willing  and  cheerful  to  cross  with  him  the  wil 
derness  of  waters  to  this  wilderness  of  woods. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  59 

Upon  this,  her  kinsman,  the  good  old  Puritan 
Dod,  singularly  renowned  for  wit  and  holiness, 
sent  her  a  curious  present  for  her  consolation. 
It  consisted  of  a  brass  counter,  a  silver  crown, 
and  a  gold  jacobus  ;  each  wrapped  in  a  separate 
envelop.  The  gentleman  who  carried  it  was 
told  to  deliver  first  the  brass  counter ;  and  if,  on 
opening  the  envelop,  she  betrayed  any  discon 
tent,  he  was  to  come  away  and  take  no  further 
notice  of  her.  But  if  she  accepted  the  trifle 
kindly  for  the  giver's  sake,  then  he  was  to  give 
her,  first  the  silver  piece,  and  next  the  gold. 
Lastly,  by  way  of  moral,  he  was  to  tell  the 
lady ; — "  That  such  would  be  the  dispensations 
of  God  towards  her,  and  the  other  good  people 
of  New  England  : — if  they  would  be  content 
and  thankful  with  such  little  things  as  God  at 
first  bestowed  upon  them,  they  should,  in  time, 
have  silver  and  gold  enough."  It  is  pleasant  to 
be  able  to  state,  that  Mrs.  Wilson  so  pleasantly 
accepted  what  seemed  such  a  trifling  token  of 
remembrance  from  her  good  old  friend,  that  the 
gentleman  delivered  the  more  valuable  parts  of 
the  present,  together  with  the  annexed  advice, 
more  precious  than  the  present  itself.  Though 
this  prediction  was  uninspired,  it  has  come  to 
pass.  The  wealth  of  the  goodly  cities,  and 
flourishing  commonwealth  of  New  England,  is 


60  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

God's  reward  of  our  father's  piety,  who  "  des 
pised  not  the  day  of  small  things,"  but  were 
humbly  grateful  for  the  least  tokens  of  God's 
provident  bounty. 

While  Mr.  Wilson  was  exerting  himself  in 
England  for  the  good  of  the  people  here,  he  was 
not  forgotten  by  them.  On  the  thirteenth  of 
January,  "  the  church  of  Boston  kept  a  day  of 
humiliation  for  the  absence  of  their  pastor  and 
other  brethren,  gone  to  England,  and  like  to  be 
troubled  and  detained  there."  The  special 
causes  of  this  trouble  and  threatened  detention 
it  is  not  now  in  our  power  to  trace.  They  were 
owing  to  that  jealous  and  arbitrary  spirit  on  the 
part  of  the  persecuting  powers,  which  so  often 
prevented  the  embarkation  of  the  emigrants. 
Edward  Johnson  gives  us  the  following  account. 
"  Here,  my  endeared  Reader,  I  must  mind  thee 
of  the  industrious  servant  of  Christ,  Mr.  John 
Wilson,  who  this  year  landed  the  third  time 
upon  this  American  shore  from  his  native  coun 
try  ;  where  now  again,  by  the  divine  providence 
of  Christ,  he  narrowly  escaped  the  hunters' 
hands,  being  clothed  in  a  countryman's  habit, 
passing  from  place  to  place,  declared  to  the  peo 
ple  of  God  what  great  works  Christ  had  already 
done  for  his  people  in  New  England,  which 
made  many  Christian  souls  long  to  see  these 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  61 


admirable  acts  of  Christ,  although  it  were  not  to 
be  enjoyed  but  by  passing  through  an  ocean  of 
troubles,  voyaging  night  and  day  upon  the  great 
deep,  which  this  zealous  servant  of  God  had 
now  five  times  passed  over."^  The  attempt  to 
prevent  the  Puritans  from  leaving  the  land  of 
oppression,  was  a  policy  fatal  to  its  authors.  In 
forbidding  the  flight  of  these  men,  so  deeply  dis 
affected  toward  the  tyranny  in  Church  and 
State,  it  compelled  them  to  stay  at  home,  and 
bend  all  the  formidable  energies  of  their  minds 
toward  the  overthrow  of  that  despotism  from 
whose  presence  they  might  not  depart.  Tims 
there  were  at  one  time  in  the  river  Thames, 
eight  sail  of  ships  bound  for  New  England ; 
and  crowded  with  Puritan  passengers,  among 
whom  were  Oliver  Cromwell,  Sir  Arthur  Hasel- 
rig,  and  John  Hampden.  An  order  in  council 
was  despatched,  which  compelled  them  to  come 
on  shore,  and  gird  themselves  for  a  contest,  in 
the  course  of  which  those  men  and  their  asso 
ciates  sent  the  king  and  his  chief  counselors  to 
the  scaffold. 

Having  finished  the  business  which  brought 
him  to  England,  Mr.  Wilson  left  his  native 
shores,  as  has  been  mentioned,  for  the  third 

*  Wonder-working  Providences,  Chap.  XXXII. 
VOL.    II.       6 


62  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

and  last  time,  and  accompanied  by  his  wife  and 
four  children.  There  came  two  large  ships  in 
consort,  the  Defence  and  the  Abigail,  with  near 
two  hundred  passengers  ;  many  of  them,  persons 
of  estate  and  repute.  Among  them,  besides 
other  ministers,  was  Thomas  Shepard,  after 
wards  the  great  luminary  of  the  Cambridge 
Church.  There  was  also  the  no  less  famous 
Hugh  Peters,  pastor  of  the  English  church  at 
Rotterdam,  from  whence  he  had  been  newly 
driven  by  the  persecutions  of  the  British  ambas 
sador.  Of  his  active  life  and  tragical  death,  we 
need  say  nothing.  His  character  having  been 
only  portrayed  by  his  bitter  foes,  or  such  as 
took  their  opinions  from  his  foes,  has  suffered 
extreme  historic  injustice.  His  only  child  be 
came  the  wife  of  the  younger  Winthrop ;  and 
their  descendants  who  yet  live  among  us  are 
happy  to  be  able  to  trace  their  lineage  to  men 
neither  noble  nor  priestly  by  the  power  of  man  ; 
but  yet  "  nobles  by  an  earlier  creation,  and  priests 
by  the  imposition  of  a  mightier  hand." 

This  company  sailed  about  the  tenth  of  Au 
gust,  1635.  They  had  some  rough  weather,  in 
which  the  decayed  and  unseaworthy  ship  was 
greatly  endangered  by  a  frightful  leak,  which 
could  not,  for  a  while,  be  found.  The  devout 
passengers  betook  themselves  to  their  usual  and 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  63 

often  successful  resource.  They  held  a  day  of 
solemn  fasting  and  prayer,  in  the  course  of 
which,  the  cause  of  their  danger  was  discovered 
and  removed,  just  as  they  were  thinking  of 
going  back.  They  arrived  at  Boston  on  the 
third  of  October,  1635.  The  Church,  concerned 
that  their  pastor  did  not  return  so  soon  as  they 
expected,  had  appointed  a  humiliation  day  for 
united  prayer  in  his  behalf.  He  arrived  the 
afternoon  before,  in  season  to  turn  the  mournful 
day,  as  reason  required,  into  an  extemporaneous 
thanksgiving.  As  painful  as  was  the  final  part 
ing  of  himself  and  wife  from  endeared  connec 
tions  at  home,  so  joyful  was  their  reception  by 
their  expectant  friends,  who  had  been  looking 
for  them  here  with  longing  eyes. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Wilson's  return,  the  Antino- 
mian  controversy  broke  out,  and  raged  for  two 
or  three  years  with  a  fury  that  threatened  the 
destruction  of  his  church.  He  with  Governor 
Winthrop,  and  a  very  few  other  members, 
found  themselves  arrayed  against  Mr.  Cotton, 
and  almost  the  entire  body  of  the  communicants. 
All  the  neighboring  churches  sided  with  Mr. 
Wilson.  The  excitement  lasted  till  the  mind  of 
Mr.  Cotton,  who  had  been  imposed  upon  by  the 
seeming  sanctity  of  the  leaders  in  the  disturb 
ance,  was  disabused.  By  his  vigorous  meas- 


64  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

ures  to  repair  his  mistake,  and  the  resolution  of 
the  civil  authority  to  expel  the  two  leading  An- 
tinomians,  quiet  was  at  last  restored.  A  synod 
held  at  Cambridge  conduced  much  to  the  res 
toration  of  quiet.  That  body  drew  up  a  list  of 
the  errors  to  be  condemned.  When  it  was 
asked,  what  was  to  be  done  with  them,  the 
zealous  Mr.  Wilson  bluntly  exclaimed  ; — "  Let 
them  go  to  the  devil  of  hell,  from  whence  they 
came  !  "  This  fiery  outbreak  may  be  more 
easily  excused  in  this  "  son  of  thunder,"  if  we 
consider  the  corrupt  and  demoralizing  tendency 
of  the  heresy  in  question.  Of  Antinomianism 
an  old  writer  says  ; — "  It  ham-strings  all  indus 
try,  and  cuts  off  the  sinews  of  men's  endeavors 
towards  salvation.  For  ascribing  all  to  the 
wind  of  God's  Spirit,  which  bloweth  where  it 
listeth,  it  leaveth  nothing  to  the  oars  of  man's 
diligence." 

This  controversy  ran  out  into  nice  and  com 
plicated  speculations,  which  are  exceedingly 
wearisome  and  \vell-nigh  unintelligible.  Almost 
the  only  thing  that  relieves  the  painfulness  of 
this  violent  contest,  is  the  fact  that  the  church 
retained  as  its  ministers  the  heads  of  the  oppos 
ing  parties.  There  appears  to  have  been  no 
thought  of  removing  either  of  them.  There  can 
be  no  more  striking  proof  of  the  prudence  and 


LIFE      OF     JOHN     WILSON.  65 

good  temper  of  the  ministers  ;  or  of  the  modera 
tion  and  reasonableness  of  the  people,  even 
amid  the  tempest  of  excitement.  Both  Mr. 
Wilson  and  his  colleague  suffered  much  re 
proach,  but  lost  not  their  benevolence  and 
charity. 

"  Let  narrow  natures,  how  they  will,  mistake, 
The  great  should  still  be  good  for  their  own  sake." 


66  LIFE      OF      JOHN     WILSON 


CHAPTER    III. 

Decision  in  religion  not  bigotry.  Odium  attached  to  bigotry. 
Fathers  of  New  England  wrongfully  reproached.  Timid  defences 
of  their  memory.  Veneration  cherished  for  them.  Bigotry  not 
confined  to  any  class.  President  Edwards.  Independence  of  char 
acter  frowned  down.  Spurious  liberality.  True  liberality.  Wei- 
gand  Von  Theben.  Augustine.  Dr.  Owen.  Thomas  Fuller. 
Characteristics  of  the  Puritans.  Their  cheerfulness.  Their  shades 
of  difference.  English  Independents  the  main  champions  of  toler 
ation.  Dr.  Owen  at  Oxford.  Dr.  Goodwin.  Alledged  intolerance 
in  New  England  compared  with  actual  intolerance  elsewhere. 
Mather  to  Lord  Barrington.  Object  of  the  Pilgrims  in  emigrating. 
Liberty  for  their  own  consciences.  Injustice  of  disorganizing 
intruders.  Feelings  of  our  fathers  toward  them.  Hubbard.  Ne 
cessity  in  those  times  of  banishing  the  turbulent  and  seditious. 
W.  Stoughton.  Governor  Winthrop.  Katharine  Chidley.  Special 
necessity  for  excluding  Church  of  England  men.  Hon.  Josiah 
Quincy.  The  first  author  of  free  toleration.  United  Provinces  of 
Holland.  HENRY  JACOB.  London  Baptists.  The  Puritans,  like 
Shakspeare,  to  be  tried  by  the  standard  of  their  own  age. 
D'Lsraeli.  Macaulay.  Puritan  administration  compared  with  that 
of  Henry  VIII.,  Elizabeth,  <fec.  Bartholomew  Act.  English  laws 
against  absence  from  public  worship.  Virginia  laws.  Temper  of 
Roger  Williams.  Windmill  on  fire.  Peculiar  opinions  of  Williams. 
Necessity  of  his  exclusion  Williams  and  Gorton.  Hon.  J.  Q. 
Adams.  Origin  of  the  Baptists.  Fears  of  the  Puritans.  Law  of 
1644.  Declaration  of  1646.  Peaceable  Baptists  never  molested. 
Speedy  and  entire  toleration.  Abusive  Quaker  pamphlets.  Bishop 
Burnet.  Rhode  Island  treatment  of  Quakers.  Misdeeds  of  the 
Quakers.  Would  be  punished  for  such  conduct  at  the  present  day. 
History  of  proceedings.  Quaker  treatment  of  Williams.  Reflec 
tions  on  the  whole  subject. 

IN  the  character  of  Mr.  Wilson  there   was   a 
singular  mixture  of  qualities.     Although  there 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  67 

have  been  many  other  examples  of  this  mixture, 
and  although  it  is  required  by  the  gospel  to  be 
in  every  believer,  yet  there  are  many  who  are 
unable  to  comprehend  the  possibility  of  it.  Mr. 
Wilson  blended  an  intense  love  of  truth  with  as 
intense  a  hatred  of  error.  He  abhorred  the 
error,  and  loved  the  errorist,  with  equal  fervor. 
In  our  day,  such  a  character  is  not  easily  under 
stood.  Every  man  is  now  regarded  as  a  relent 
less  bigot,  who  is  not  an  easy  liberal,  believing 
that  one  man  is  as  likely  to  be  right  as  another, 
and  who  attaches  no  importance  to  abstract 
principles,  whether  true  or  erroneous. 

Mr.  Wilson  combined  a  most  compassionate 
and  loving  nature,  with  a  flaming  zeal  for 
orthodoxy.  His  dread  of  false  doctrines  and 
their  practical  influence  was  extreme.  He 
would  have  had  all  the  power  of  the  magistrate 
exerted  for  their  suppression  and  exclusion. 
Had  it  been  possible,  he  would  have  drawn  a 
sanitary  cordon  around  the  colony,  established 
a  theological  quarantine,  and  sternly  prohibited 
the  smuggling  in  of  infectious  heresies.  And 
yet  the  benevolence  of  his  heart  was  most  ex 
panded,  and  glowed  with  pity  to  the  mistaken 
men  whose  errors  he  anathematized  without 
mercy. 

In  this  respect,  he  was  one  of  the  best  speci- 


68  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

mens  of  our  Puritan  fathers,  who  were  so 
enamored  of  the  truth,  that  they  watched  over 
its  purity  with  all  the  fire  of  passion  and  all  the 
jealousy  of  love.  Their  zeal  impelled  them  to 
lift  at  once  the  sword  at  the  first  advances  of  its 
assailants.  Not  every  bosom  is  capable  of  feel 
ing  this  fervid  sentiment.  They  felt  it :  and  it 
filled  them  with  the  spirit  of  power.  Had  they 
not  felt  it,  they  would  have  had  no  nerve  to 
accomplish  their  mighty  deeds. 

"  The  laboring  bee,  when  his  sharp  sting  is  gone, 
Forgets  his  golden  work,  and  turns  a  drone ; 
Such  is  their  nature,  if  you  take  away 
That  generous  rage  wherein  their  noble  vigor  lay." 

It  ought  to  be  conceivable,  that  love  to  man 
may  make  us  hate  what  is  hurtful  to  man.  To 
love  him,  is  to  hate  that  which  injures  him  ;  and 
to  hate  it  the  more,  the  more  injurious  it 
may  be. 

"  It  is  thy  skill 

To  strike  the  vice,  but  spare  the  person  still : 
As  he,  who,  when  he  saw  the  serpent  wreathed 
About  his  sleeping  son,  and  as  he  breathed 
Drink  in  his  soul,  did  so  the  shot  contrive, 
To  kill  the  beast,  but  keep  the  child  alive." 

Happy  indeed  is  he,  who  can  boldly  lift  his 
hand,  and  strongly  strike  at  error,  from  feelings 
of  pure  benevolence  toward  such  as  may  be  its 
victims.  Thrice  happy  is  he  of  whom  it  may 
be  justly  said, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  69 


"  That  malice  never  was  his  aim  ; 
He  lashed  the  vice,  but  spared  the  name." 

Though  Mr.  Wilson  was  in  England  when 
Roger  Williams  was  banished,  he  yet  approved 
the  sentence  as  necessary  and  wholesome.  In 
the  expulsion  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  he  fully  con 
curred,  as  also  in  the  exclusion  of  the  Quakers 
at  a  later  period.  As  he  and  his  associates  have 
been  more  universally  and  bitterly  condemned 
for  these  measures  than  for  any  other  of  their 
actions,  we  will  here,  once  for  all,  look  to  see 
what  may  be  offered  in  their  defence.  We  shall 
vindicate  them  as  far  as  they  may,  and  ought  to 
be  vindicated. 

It  is  one  evident  mark  of  the  progress  of  the 
human  mind,  and  of  the  advancement  of  society 
in  the  knowledge  of  human  rights,  that  religious 
bigotry  and  intolerance  have  come  to  be  held  in 
general  reprobation.  To  be  charged  with  such 
fault  is  now  regarded  as  one  of  the  darkest 
accusations  which  can  be  brought  against  the 
living  or  the  dead. 

There  be  many  who,  for  selfish  purposes,  are 
ever  ringing  and  resounding  this  odious  charge 
against  our  pilgrim  fathers.  The  most  studious 
efforts  are  made  to  depict  them  as  "  the  chief  of 
sinners"  in  this  respect,  as  a  race  of  "  graceless 
bigots,"  and  remorseless  persecutors.  In  our 


70  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

days,  their  enemies  have  mostly  had  the  telling 
of  the  story.  The  haters  of  their  memory  and 
their  sentiments  have  risen  up,  and  ransacked 
every  garret,  and  raked  into  every  old  cellar,  to 
find  matter  wherewith  to  asperse  their  charac 
ters.  These  literary  scavengers  have  plunged 
into  forgotten  reservoirs  of  slander,  and  have 
come  out  reeking  with  the  antiquated  filth,  and 
have  steeped  themselves  in  obsolete  infamy,  in 
the  vain  hope  of  being  able  to  pour  lasting  ob 
loquy  on  the  reputation  of  our  holy  and  vener 
ated  dead.  Musty  pamphlets  have  been  recalled 
from  just  oblivion.  There  has  been  a  general 
resurrection  of  old  publications,  some  of  which 
died  of  their  own  inborn  venom,  and  others 
dropped  dead-born  from  the  presses  which  gave 
birth  to  these  abortive  slanders.  These  writings 
were  chiefly  penned  by  bitter  foes,  and  most  of 
the  authors  of  them  were  smarting  under  right 
ful  punishment  inflicted  by  the  Puritans.  From 
these  sources  have  been  culled  every  railing 
accusation,  every  calumnious  fabrication,  every 
disingenuous,  wrested  and  falsified  statement  of 
things,  which  can  be  made  to  bear  hard  upon 
the  memory  of  men  of  whom,  in  truth,  the 
world  was  not  worthy.  All  these  assertions, 
which,  in  the  time  when  they  were  first  made, 
our  fathers  either  refuted  in  full,  or  deemed  too 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  71 

absurd  and  contemptible  for  refutation,  are  now 
eagerly  retailed  by  our  modern  venders  of  anti- 
puritanical  slander,  as  if  every  word  must  be 
unquestionable  truth.  The  partisan  statements 
of  maddened  opposers  are  recited  over  and  over 
again,  without  the  least  apparent  misgiving  as 
to  their  total  inaccuracy  and  want  of  candor. 
Whatever  can  be  picked  up  that  makes  against 
the  pilgrims,  is  given  out  again  as  true  of 
course,  without  farther  inquiry. 

This  mode  of  procedure  has  gone  on  so  long, 
that  even  many  who  cherish  the  names  of  our 
fathers  with  deep  and  affectionate  respect,  are 
not  uninfluenced  by  these  one-sided  and  wrong- 
sided  declarations.  Such  persons  will  begin 
with  almost  angrily  denouncing  them  as  perse 
cutors,  and  for  a  while  are  "  outrageously  vir 
tuous  "  in  their  condemnation  of  such  infringe 
ment  of  the  rights  of  conscience.  Having  thus 
pacified  with  this  high-seasoned  sop,  the  irritated 
public  sentiment  of  the  day,  they  take  another 
step.  They  suggest  that  our  fathers  went  with 
the  current  of  their  times,  were  no  worse  than 
their  contemporaries,  and  that  if  we  had  lived 
in  "  those  times  of  ignorance"  on  the  subject  of 
toleration,  we  have  no  reason  to  think  that  we 
should  have  acted  any  better  than  they.  Pres 
ently  we  are  told,  that  our  fathers  acted  accord- 


72  LIFE      OF      JOHN     WILSON. 

ing  to  the  light  they  had;  and  though  its 
dimness  misled  them,  they  were  conscientious 
and  sincere  in  the  steps  they  took.  At  last  it  is 
pretty  plainly  hinted,  that  unhappy  circumstances 
constrained  them  to  pursue  the  course  they  did ; 
and  that,  taking  every  thing  into  view,  it  is  not 
easy  to  see  how  they  could  have  done  any 
differently  without  exposing  themselves  and 
their  cause  to  destruction.  Such  is  substanti 
ally  the  way  in  which  the  subject  is  disposed  of 
by  Rev.  Charles  Emerson,  and  other  later 
writers.  They  begin  by  viewing  the  subject 
according  to  the  ideas  of  the  present  age,  and 
speak  the  language  of  violent  reprobation.  But 
the  longer  and  closer  they  examine  it,  the  cooler 
does  their  indignation  become,  till  they  reach 
their  natural  temperature. 

"  The  calmer  grown  for  so  much  anger  spent, 
As  is  the  case  with  rash  and  passionate  men." 

Such  critics  are  often  heard  to  say; — 
"  Surely  there  have  never  been  better  or  more 
useful  men  than  our  ancestors  ;  but  alas,  the 
best  of  men  have  their  faults  !  it  is  a  pity  that 
they  were  so  uncharitable  and  intolerant."  And 
yet  our  forefathers,  who  abounded  in  every  kind 
of  good  sense,  did  not  regard  themselves  as 
justly  obnoxious  to  this  condemnation.  It  ought 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  73 

to  be  considered,  that  there  is  another  side  to 
the  story,  which  may  wear  a  very  different 
aspect  when  the  whole  truth  shall  come  out. 
That  our  fathers  sometimes  erred,  we  shall 
frankly  acknowledge  :  for  it  is  the  lot  of  poor 
humanity  to  present  some  weak  spots  in  her 
strongest  specimens,  some  blots  on  her  fairest 
copies.  But  in  their  case,  it  will  be  found  that 
a  fair  and  equitable  distribution  of  the  blame 
will  take  off  the  greater  part  of  what  has  been 
heaped  upon  them ;  and  put  it  back  where  it 
properly  belongs, — even  on  the  shoulders  of 
those  whom  they  are  said  to  have  persecuted. 
It  is  a  matter  of  high  satisfaction,  that  the  char 
acter  of  the  pilgrims  still  stands  so  elevated  in 
the  minds  of  their  descendants.  Throughout 
New  England,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
degenerate  renegades,  their  memory  is  held  in 
the  greatest  veneration.  As  you  leave  New 
England,  the  farther  South  or  West  you  go,  the 
less  will  you  find  of  this  filial  regard  for  the  first 
settlers  of  the  soil.  And  when  you  come  to 
those  countries  first  subjugated  and  colonized  by 
other  nations,  you  will  find  the  people  even  ab 
horring  the  memory  of  their  sires.  Thus  in 
1823,  the  patriot  mob  in  Mexico,  in  their  detes 
tation  of  the  old  Spaniards,  "prepared  to  break 
open  the  tomb  which  held  the  ashes  of  Cortes," 

VOL.    II.       7 


74  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

the  founder  of  that  community,  and  to  scatter 
them  to  the  winds.  The  authorities  declined 
to  interfere  on  the  occasion  ;  but  the  friends  of 
the  family,  as  is  commonly  reported,  entered  the 
vault  by  night,  and  secretly  removed  the  relics.^ 
The  great  traveler  Humboldt  informs  us,  that 
we  may  traverse  the  whole  length  of  Spanish 
America,  and  in  no  quarter  shall  we  meet  with 
a  national  monument  which  the  public  gratitude 
has  raised  to  Christopher  Columbus,  or  Her- 
nando  Cortes. t  How  different  is  the  case  with 
the  sons  of  New  England !  With  what  filial 
enthusiasm  do  they  maintain  the  renown  of 
their  fathers  !  The  children  pay  an  ample  trib 
ute  of  love  and  gratitude  to  the  illustrious 
parents  of  the  commonwealth,  to  whom  we  are 
indebted  for  our  most  valued  institutions,  our 
dearest  social  privileges,  and  our  best  traits  of 
national  character.  Of  this  generous  homage, 
not  all  the  reproach  of  their  malignant  adversa 
ries  has  been  able  to  deprive  them. 

As  the  matter  seems  not  to  be  properly  under 
stood,  it  may  be  well  to  say  what  bigotry  is.  It 
is  such  a  bl.nd  attachment  to  our  opinions  as 
would  force  others  to  embrace  the  same ;  or 
would  hate  and  injure  them  if  they  will  not  be 

*  Prescott.  Conquest  of  Mexico,  III.  350. 
t  Essai  Politique,  II.  60. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  75 

so  forced.  The  matter  is  well  expressed  by 
Macaulay ; — "  The  doctrine  which,  from  the 
very  first  origin  of  religious  dissensions,  has 
been  held  by  all  bigots  of  all  sects,  when  con 
densed  into  a  few  words>  and  stripped  of  all 
rhetorical  disguise,  is  simply  this, — I  am  in  the 
right,  and  you  are  in  the  wrong ;  when  you  are 
the  stronger,  you  ought  to  tolerate  me,  for  it  is 
your  duty  to  tolerate  truth; — but  when  I  am 
the  stronger,  I  shall  persecute  you ;  for  it  is  my 
duty  to  persecute  error." 

The  persecuting  spirit  is  an  essential  element 
of  bigotry,  and  its  ruthless  oppressions  have  been 
deplorable  indeed.  It  has  made  rself  "drunk 
with  the  blood  of  the  saints,"  and  in  the  mad 
ness  of  that  intoxication  has  reveled  in  the 
agonies  of  the  martyrs.  The  truths  which  such 
people  hold  seem  only  to  confirm  them  in  their 
phrenzy :  like  monomaniacs,  in  whom  their 
sanity  only  strengthens  their  insanity.  They 
who  are  hurried  away  by  this  terrible  passion 
will  perpetrate  any  atrocity  in  the  sacred  names 
of  love  and  goodness;  and  seem,  in  the  ener 
getic  phrase  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  to  have 
invented  "  a  new  way  of  going  to  the  devil  for 
God's  sake." 

Nor  do  we  find  this  odious  vice  of  the  mind 
confined  to  any  class  of  men.  There  is  a  bigotry 


76  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

of  liberality,  as  well  as  a  bigotry  of  illiberality. 
We  have  seen  attempts  strenuously  made  to 
compel  people  into  free  discussion,  and  force 
them  into  free  inquiry.  And  a  century  ago, 
President  Edwards  thus  uttered  his  complaints; 
— "  I  have  observed  that  these  modern  fashion 
able  opinions,  however  called  noble  and  liberal, 
are  commonly  attended,  not  only  with  a  haughty 
contempt,  but  an  inward  malignant  bitterness  of 
heart,  toward  all  the  zealous  professors  and  de 
fenders  of  the  contrary  spiritual  principles,  that 
do  so  nearly  concern  the  vitals  of  religion,  and 
the  power  of  experimental  godliness.  I  have 
known  many  gentlemen,  especially  in  the  min 
istry,  tainted  with  these  liberal  principles ;  who, 
though  none  seem  such  warm  advocates  as  they 
for  liberty  and  freedom  of  thought,  or  condemn 
a  narrow  and  persecuting  spirit  so  much  as 
they  ;  yet,  in  the  course  of  things,  have  made  it 
manifest,  that  they  themselves  had  no  small 
share  of  a  persecuting  spirit."^  It  is  quite  cer 
tain,  that  were  the  excellent  president  now 
alive,  he  would  have  abundance  of  occasion  to 
renew  his  complaints. 

The   spurious  liberality  of  these  times  will 
allow  a  man  to  be  decided  only  in  one  way,  that 

*  Works,  I.  514.  N.  Haven  Ed. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  77 

is,  in  its  own  favor.  It  tells  you,  that  you  must 
seek  for  the  truth  ;  but  you  must  never  feel  sure 
that  you  have  found  it.  You  must  not  say ; — "  I 
have  sought  the  truth  of  God  with  humble  dili 
gence,  and,  by  his  blessing,  have  found  it."  For 
people  will  turn  upon  you  and  ask  ; — "  What ! 
do  you  say,  that  you  are  certain  you  are  right  ? 
In  so  saying  you  condemn  all  who  think  differ 
ently  from  you.  Do  you  mean  to  say,  that  you 
are  right,  and  all  others  are  wrong  ?  "  Perhaps 
you  dare  answer ; — "  I  concede  to  others  the 
same  privilege  of  forming  their  own  opinions  I 
claim  for  myself :  but  assured  as  I  am,  that  I 
am  right,  of  course,  I  must  think  that  such  as 
embrace  opposite  view^s  are  wrong.  If  I  am 
right,  they  are  in  error  :  and  so  deeply  as  I  am 
convinced  in  my  soul  that  I  am  right,  even  so 
deeply  must  I  feel  that  they  are  in  error." 
Now  if  you  should  be  honest  and  decided 
enough  to  answer  in  this  reasonable  manner, 
the  liberal  public  would  cry  out  against  you ; — 
"  Away  with  this  bigot,  who  pretends  no  body 
is  right  who  does  not  think  as  he  d:es"!  " 

The  tyranny  of  public  sentiment  now-a-days, 
insists  that  we  shall  allow  that  one  man  is  just 
as  likely  to  be  right  as  another.  It  allows  me  to 
say; — "  I  believe  my  opinions  are  correct:" — 
provided,  I  will  own  that  opinions  precisely  the 
7* 


78  LIFE      OF     JOHN     WILSON. 

reverse  of  mine  are  quite  as  likely  to  be  correct. 
Thus  are  we  only  permitted  to  believe  as  though 
we  believed  not ;  to  know,  as  though  we  neither 
knew,  nor  could  know.  Thus  are  we  required 
to  stultify  ourselves,  and  put  on  the  fool's  cap,  by 
affecting  to  assent  to  a  flat  contradiction  and  utter 
impossibility.  We  must  profess  to  be  fully  as 
sured  that  we  have  the  truth :  and  to  be  as  well 
assured  that  we  may  be  altogether  deluded.  If 
we  will  not  agree  to  this  absurdity,  we  are 
denounced  at  once  as  uncharitable,  censorious, 
arrogant,  bigoted,  and  intolerant. 

Now  what  is  this,  but  to  require  a  universal 
skepticism  ?  What  is  it,  but  to  declare  that  the 
certainty  of  truth  is  unattainable  ?  What  is  it, 
but  to  assert  that  the  man  who  imagines  that 
white  is  black,  is,  in  all  probability,  as  near  right 
as  I  am,  who  am  positive  that  white  is  white, 
and  not  black  ?  How  can  a  character  for  manly 
independence,  truthful  sincerity,  and  energetic 
decision,  be  formed  under  these  preposterous 
dogmas  of  the  spurious  and  abusive  liberalism 
now  in  vogue. 

No  wonder  that  persons  who  entertain  such 
sentiments  should  look  upon  our  fathers  as 
unmitigated  bigots.  Our  fathers  were  not  of 
their  sort.  They  scorned  such  enervating  incon 
sistencies.  Our  fathers  were  decided  men. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  79 


They  searched  for  the  truth  in  earnest.  And 
when  they  had  found  it,  they  held  it  firm  ;  not 
wavering  in  the  presence  of  errorists,  nor  flinch 
ing  before  the  frowns  of  the  despot.  Strong  in 
this  Christian  grace  of  decidedness,  they  were 
valiant  for  the  truth,  and  endured  unequaled 
sufferings,  and  achieved  incomparable  success. 

It  matters  not  how  firm  and  uncompromising 
a  man  may  be  in  holding  to  his  opinions.  This 
will  not  make  him  a  bigot,  provided  he  still 
have  his  mind  open  to  conviction,  and  manifest 
no  animosity  against  those  whom  he  cannot  con 
strain  to  agree  with  him.  Decision  of  character 
is  totally  different  from  bigotry  ;  though  many 
there  be,  who' cannot  see  the  difference.  It  is 
far  easier  to  persuade  decided  people  to  embrace 
a  truth  they  have  once  opposed,  than  to  produce 
the  same  effect  upon  the  irresolute  and  unstable. 

"  'Tis  easiest  dealing  with  the  firmest  mind, 

More  just  when  it  resists,  and  when  it  yields,  more  kind." 

How  vain  is  the  attempt  to  bring  about  a 
forced  uniformity  of  opinions.  So  diverse  are 
the  minds  of  men  as  to  temper,  breeding,  habit 
and  prejudice,  that  the  attempt  must  be  as  vain 
as  to  reduce  them  all  to  the  same  stature  and 
complexion  of  body.  This  matter  was  once 
quaintly  illustrated  by  Weigandvon  Theben,the 


80  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

facetious  parson  of  Calemberg,  who,  some  cen 
turies  since,  was  a  great  favorite  with  Otho, 
archduke  of  Austria.  This  strange  genius  once 
took  a  basket  full  of  skulls  to  the  top  of  a  moun 
tain,  and  emptying  it  there,  exclaimed,  as  he 
saw  them  roll  down,  each  pursuing  a  different 
course  ; — "  So  many  heads,  so  many  opinions  ! 
If  they  do  thus  when  they  are  dead,  what  would 
they  have  done  had  they  been  alive  ?" 

The  Puritans  were  indeed  remarkably  decided 
in  their  ways :  but  they  rejoiced  in  all  new  light, 
if  it  deserved  the  name,  let  it  shine  from  what 
quarter  it  might.  They  expected  no  new  reve 
lations  :  but  they  did  expect,  like  John  Robin- 
son,  that  God  would  cause  more  light  to  break 
forth  from  his  Word.  Accordingly  we  find  that 
there  was  scarcely  any  man  of  distinction  among 
them  but  what,  like  Robinson,  he  changed  his 
views  upon  important  matters  as  he  increased  in 
years  and  knowledge.  Of  all  the  writings  of 
Augustine,  scarce  any  are  so  creditable  to  his 
piety,  wisdom  and  firmness  of  mind,  as  his  Con 
fessions  and  Retractations.  That  leading  Puritan, 
Dr.  John  Owen,  said  in  his  reply  to  Daniel 
Cawdry; — "  He  that  can  glory,  that,  in  fourteen 
years,  he  hath  not  altered  nor  improved  his  con 
ception  of  some  things  of  no  greater  importance 
than  that  mentioned,  shall  not  have  me  for  his 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  81 


rival."  It  was  said  by  that  good  conforming 
Puritan,  Thomas  Fuller,  with  his  usual  felic 
ity; — "  To  live,  and  not  to  learn,  is  to  loiter,  and 
not  to  live.  Confession  of  our  former  mistakes 
is  the  honorable  trophy  of  our  conquest  over  our 
own  ignorance." 

"  It  is  a  conquest  to  submit  to  right, 
Nor  so  to  yield  think  it  the  least  despite." 

As  the  race  of  Puritans  was  scattered  along 
from  the  morning  twilight  of  the  protestant  re 
formation  to  the  brightness  of  its  noon-day,  they 
could  not  but  experience  a  great  improvement  of 
their  views,  attended  with  much  diversity  as 
to  the  lights  and  shades  of  their  opinions. 

It  is  a  great  delusion  to  imagine,  as  many 
seem  to  do,  that  our  fathers  were  all  fashioned 
of  the  same  molten  mass  of  opinion  and  senti 
ment,  and  run  in  the  same  mould  with  cast-iron 
faces,  hard  and  grim,  which  never  relaxed  into 
a  smile  of  mirth  or  tenderness.  Nay,  to  read 
some  of  their  satirical  pamphlets,  such  as  "  The 
Simple  Cobbler,"  and  many  others,  we  might  even 
suspect  that  they  loved  a  good  joke  occasionally 
only  too  well.  The  truth  is,  they  were  full- 
blooded  Englishmen  :  and  their  character  was 
marked  with  a  broad  streak  of  nationality.  They 
had  all  the  British  hardihood  of  endurance  and 


82  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

perseverance,  as  well  as  scrupulosity  of  con 
science  and  tenacity  of  right.  With  this  they 
had  a  due  share  of  that  hearty,  cheery  temper 
which  belongs  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  composition, 
and  which  gets  through  troubles  by  keeping  up 
a  good  heart  and  making  light  of  them.  It  was 
this  that  helped  to  reconcile  them  here  in  the 
wilderness  to  their  coarse  and  scanty  meals.  It 
was  a  saying  often  in  their  mouths  at  such 
times  ; — "  Brown  bread  with  the  gospel  is  very 
good  fare  !"  They  were  mostly  of  the  middle 
class  of  English :  a  people  of  whom  a  foreign 
traveler  long  since  said,  that  they  were  like  a 
barrel  of  their  own  beer,  of  which  the  top  is  froth ; 
the  bottom,  dregs  ;  but  the  middle  is  a  strong, 
substantial  liquor.  Belonging  to  this  "  middling 
interest,"  our  fathers  partook  of  its  best  peculiar 
ities.  It  is  not  the  nature  of  such  men,  when 
pious  and  intelligent,  and  such  our  fathers 
unquestionably  were,  to  be  blind  and  brutish 
bigots. 

The  English  Puritans  were  arrayed  in  several 
divisions.  Of  the  state  Puritans,  or  political 
reformers,  whose  whole  endeavor  was  to  carry 
out  the  most  free  and  liberal  construction  of  the 
British  constitution,  we  have  no  occasion  here  to 
speak. 

Of  those  who  studied  to  accomplish  a  thorough 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  83 

reformation  of  religion,  there  were  some  strong1 
prelatists,  who  were  never  separated  from  the 
hierarchal  establishment.  They  conformed  to 
practices  which,  nevertheless,  they  struggled  to 
abolish. 

Then,  at  the  other  extreme,  were  the  rigid 
separatists,  like  Roger  Williams,  who  not  only 
abjured  all  connection  with  the  national  church, 
but  renounced  the  communion  of  all  who  would 
not  denounce  their  former  relation  to  that  church, 
and  partaking  in  its  worship,  as  a  crime  requir 
ing  repentance  and  open  confession.  This  class, 
which  was  called  Brownist,  Barrowist,  and  other 
uncouth  names,  was  never  very  numerous,  nor 
was  it  of  long  continuance. 

Between  the  conforming  Puritans  and  the 
Separatists,  were  the  Presbyterians  and  the  Con- 
gregationalists.  The  Presbyterians  were  for  a 
modified  hierarchy,  with  a  large  mixture  of  the 
popular  element.  The  sentiments  of  the  Con- 
gregationalists  are  too  well  known  to  need 
description  here.  The  latter  are  often  confounded 
with  the  Separatists  or  Brownists,  though  they 
abundantly  protested  against  being  so  regarded, 
and  vigorously  controverted  matters  with  the 
separating  brethren.  The  Congregationalists  are 
also  sometimes  confounded  with  the  Presbyteri 
ans  ;  although  the  distinction  was  broad  enough 


84  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

in  those  days,  when  the  Presbyterians  first 
hurled  the  king  and  his  prelates  from  their  seats 
of  power  ;  and  then  were  themselves  ejected  by 
Cromwell  and  the  Independents.  No  man  will 
ever  suppose,  that  these  two  parties  were  but 
one,  after  he  has  read  the  tremendous  invectives 
of  Cawdry  and  Edwards  against  the  Congrega- 
tionalists,  and  the  intensely  passionate  retorts  of 
the  poet  Milton  and  other  Independents.  During 
the  interregnum,  the  Presbyterians,  when  the 
dominant  party,  said ; — "  It  seems  to  us  that  the 
Independent  brethren  desire  liberty,  not  only  for 
themselves,  but  for  all  men."  Hence  they  call  tol 
eration,  "the  great  Diana  of  the  Independents."^ 
Dr.  John  Owen,  a  leading  Congregationalist, 
was  made  vice-chancellor  of  Oxford  University, 
by  the  Protector  Cromwell.  No  man  ever  filled 
that  place  who,  for  piety  and  learning,  was  more 
meet  for  it  than  Dr.  Owen.  Many  foreign 
divines,  who  had  read  his  Latin  works,  learned 
the  English  tongue  merely  to  have  the  benefit  of 
reading  his  voluminous  publications  in  his  native 
language.  During  his  government  of  that  seat 
of  science,  he  would  not  suffer  the  members  of 
the  old  prelatic  church  in  his  near  vicinity  to 
be  disturbed  in  their  worship,  which  they  were 

*  Bogue  arid  Bennett's  History,  I,  133. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  85 

seeking  to  carry  on  in  secret.  The  numerous 
church-livings  in  his  gift,  he  presented  to  the 
Presbyterians.  At  that  time,  Dr.  Thomas  Good 
win  was  President  of  Magdalen  College,  in 
Oxford,  where  he  formed  a  Congregational 
church,  in  which  the  celebrated  Theophilus 
Gale,  a  distinguished  benefactor  of  Harvard 
College,  was  a  member,  as  was  also  the  equally 
celebrated  Stephen  Charnock.  John  Howe,  well 
worthy  to  be  mated  with  these  famous  divines, 
was  a  member  of  the  same  College,  and  agreed 
with  them  in  sentiment.  When  asked  by  Dr. 
Goodwin,  why  he  did  not  join  their  church,  Mr. 
Howe  replied ; — "  Because  you  lay  more  stress 
upon  some  peculiarities  than  I  approve ;  if  you 
will  admit  me  upon  catholic  principles,  I  will 
gladly  unite  with  you."  It  is  a  sufficient  proof 
of  the  liberal  and  tolerant  spirit  of  these  men, 
that  he  was  received  at  once  upon  his  own  terms. 

It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  proofs  that  the 
Congregationalists,  when  they  had  the  power  in 
England,  though  they  were  decided  Calvinists, 
and  root-and-branch  reformers,  manifested  a 
freedom  from  bigotry  and  intolerance  wholly  un 
exampled  in  their  times.  But  we  must  pass  on 
to  discuss  the  accusations  alledged  against  their 
department  in  the  early  days  of  New  England. 

And  here  we  may  as  well  remark  at  the  out- 
VOL.  ii.     8 


86  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

set,  that  what  has  been  unjustly  regarded  as  the 
reign  of  intolerance  in  New  England,  was  nei 
ther  severe,  nor  was  it  of  long  continuance. 
There  is  a  letter  written  by  Dr.  Cotton  Mather, 
doubtless  to  Lord  Harrington,  and  dated  the  fourth 
of  November,  1718.  Here  it  is  stated  ; — "  That 
no  church  upon  earth  at  this  day  so  notably 
makes  the  terms  of  communion  run  parallel  with 
the  terms  of  salvation,  as  they  are  made  among 
this  people.  The  only  declared  basis  for  union 
among  them  is  that  solid,  vital,  substantial  piety, 
wherein  all  good  men,  of  different  forms,  are 
united.  And  Calvinists  with  Lutherans,  Pres 
byterians  with  Episcopalians,  Pedobaptists  with 
Anabaptists,  beholding  one  another  to  fear  God 
and  work  righteousness,  do  with  delight  sit  down 
together  at  the  same  table  of  the  Lord ;  nor  do 
they  hurt  one  another  in  the  holy  mountain."^ 

Let  us  first  ask  for  the  errand  which  brought 
our  fathers  across  the  water.  With  what  object 
in  view  did  they  brave  the  perils  of  the  deep  in 
that  day  of  comparatively  unskillful  navigation  ? 
Why  left  they  a  country,  which  they  loved  with 
an  almost  idolizing  passion?  Why  did  they 
part  with  the  comforts  of  their  English  homes, 


*  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  First  Series,  I.,  105. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  87 

to  plant  their  cheerless  cottages  in  a  savage  wil 
derness  of  rigorous  clime  ? 

Did  they  come  and  subdue  the  uncultivated 
wastes,  with  the  intention  of  opening  an  asylum 
for  all  sorts  of  opinions,  and  a  refuge  for  all  sorts 
of  characters  ?  Nay,  verily,  they  had  no  notion 
of  any  such  Quixotical  knight-errantry.  It  was 
far  from  their  thoughts  to  establish  a  general  re 
ceptacle  for  all  manner  of  disorganizers,  innova 
tors,  and  rash  experimenters  in  social  reforms. 
Their  tremendous  personal  sacrifices  were  not 
made  for  the  purpose  of  clearing  a  space  where 
every  kind  of  sectarians,  fanatics,  enthusiasts 
and  moral  revolutionizers  might  rush  in  like 
winds  from  all  quarters,  and  keep  up  an  ever 
lasting  whirlwind  of  excitement.  How  ground 
less,  then,  the  charge  of  inconsistency  so  loudly 
urged  against  them,  because,  though  they  fled 
from  intolerance  at  home,  they  were  not  tolerant 
here  of  every  interloping  vagrant  who  strove  to 
force  himself  into  their  community,  for  the  sake 
of  destroying  all  that  the  pilgrims  had  toiled  and 
suffered  to  establish.  It  would  seem  that  some 
sympathy  is  due  to  our  fathers,  who  anxiously 
watched  over  the  institutions  they  had  founded 
at  such  fearful  cost  to  themselves,  and  longed  to 
preserve  from  the  ruthless  hands  of  disturbers 
and  destructives.  With  what  anguish  did  they 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

see  the  wild  boar  out  of  the  woods,  endeavoring 
to  uproot  the  tender  vine  which  they  had  plant 
ed  with  such  care,  and  to  water  which  they  had 
poured  out  their  prayers  and  tears,  their  blood, 
and  their  very  souls  !  What  wonder,  if,  in  the 
desperation  of  their  grief,  they  assailed  the 
dreaded  intruder  with  arrows  and  lances  !  They 
felt  it  to  be  a  cruel  persecution  upon  them,  to  be 
followed  into  their  sad  retreat,  by  those  who 
were  eager  to  thwart  their  last  hope  for  them 
selves  and  their  whole  posterity. 

And  what  was  their  mission  to  these  stern 
and  rocky  shores,  these  rough  and  woody  soli 
tudes  ?  What  was  the  grand  design  so  dear  to 
their  hearts,  and  so  precious  in  their  eyes,  and 
which  they  prized  so  much  above  home,  and 
friends,  and  life  itself  ? 

It  was  their  cherished  object  to  establish  a 
Christian  Commonwealth.  They  wished  to 
model  the  frame  of  their  Church  and  their  State 
after  the  principles  of  the  Bible,  and  according 
to  the  free  spirit  of  Christianity,  as  they  under 
stood  the  matter.  And  this  they  had  an  un 
doubted  right  to  do,  so  long  as  they  interfered 
with  no  previous  enterprise,  or  pre-existing  set 
tlements. 

Truly  this  was  a  noble  object.  The  plan  was 
original,  vast  and  comprehensive ;  and  exceed- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  89 

ingly  difficult  to  be  carried  into  execution.  In 
the  infancy  of  their  enterprise,  the  least  unto 
ward  event  might  have  made  shipwreck  of  their 
expectations :  and  there  is  every  reason  to  be 
lieve,  that,  had  they  been  less  peremptory  and 
resolute  in  their  treatment  of  those  who  came 
among  them  to  oppose  them,  their  whole  under 
taking  would  have  proved  a  disastrous  failure. 

With  extreme  difficulty,  our  fathers  obtained 
a  royal  charter,  which  gave  them  the  powers 
necessary  to  effect  their  object.  As  free  born 
subjects  of  the  British  crown,  they  claimed  the 
protection  of  the  monarch  who  claimed  allegiance 
of  them.  Under  that  protection,  they  exercised 
the  invaluable  rights  of  electing  their  own  mag 
istrates,  and  enacting  their  own  laws.  It  is 
true,  that  they  restricted  the  privilege  of  becom 
ing  freemen  or  citizens  to  members  of  the 
churches  which  they  had  formed  on  the  New 
Testament  plan.  But  for  this  a  very  good  and 
sufficient  reason  can  be  assigned.  The  charter 
was  obtained  for  a  specific  purpose  ;  namely, 
the  founding  of  a  Christian  Commonwealth  ac 
cording  to  their  own  views  of  what  the  Bible 
taught.  Now  under  the  charter,  the  freemen 
were  the  corporators,  to  whom  pertained  the 
duty  of  carrying  the  intention  of  the  charter  into 
effect.  How  evident  then  the  propriety  of  pro- 


90  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

viding,  that  those  corporators,  so  far  as  might 
be,  should  understand  that  intention,  and  cor 
dially  befriend  it.  And  this,  in  general,  could 
only  be  expected  at  that  time  from  the  members 
of  the  Church. 

What  company  of  men,  having  obtained  an 
act  of  incorporation  for  the  purpose  of  mutual 
insurance,  would  allow  persons  to  become  stock 
holders  who  avowed  the  design  of  turning  the 
whole  affair  into  a  manufacturing  concern  ? 
Who  would  blame  the  original  undertakers  for 
resisting  to  the  utmost,  such  a  gross  perversion 
of  their  chartered  rights  ?  Each  restless  spirit 
who  came  here  to  trouble  our  fathers,  knew  per 
fectly  well  with  what  object  they  had  pitched 
their  tents  upon  this  unpromising  soil.  And  if 
that  object  was  unacceptable  to  such  restless 
natures,  why  were  they  so  ungenerous  as  to 
take  advantage  of  the  supposed  weakness  of  our 
fathers  ?  If  they  wished  to  set  up  some  differ 
ent  sort  of  commonwealth,  why  thrust  themselves 
in  where  others  had  pre-occupied  the  ground, 
and  laid  out  so  much  toil  and  expense  upon  it  ? 
Such  intrusion  was  needless,  injurious  and  cul 
pable.  Surely  the  new  world  was  wide  enough 
for  a  thousand  independent  experiments  of  the 
kind,  all  disconnected  from  each  other.  Our 
fathers  regarded  these  aggressors  upon  their 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  91 

rights  very  much  as  we  might  regard  some  law 
less  squatter,  who  should  raise  his  log  hut  in  the 
very  midst  of  our  home-lot  which  we  had  pur 
chased,  cleared  and  enclosed.  And  if  they  gave 
the  unruly  encr.oachers  notice  to  quit,  it  was  no 
more  than  any  body  would  do  to-day,  under  sim 
ilar  circumstances. 

One  of  our  older  historians  thus  presents  the 
matter ; — "  The  inhabitants  of  the  place  having 
purchased  the  country  for  themselves,  they  ac 
counted  it  an  unreasonable  injury  for  any  to 
come  presumptuously,  without  license  or  allow 
ance,  to  live  amongst  them,  and  to  sow  the  seeds 
of  their  dangerous  and  perverse  principles 
amongst  the  inhabitants,  tending  to  the  subver 
sion  of  all  that  was  good,  whether  sacred  or 
civil ;  and  therefore  thought  themselves  bound 
to  hold  out  the  sharp,  against  any  that  should 
attempt,  without  leave,  to  thrust  themselves 
amongst  them :  which  renders  them  that  obsti 
nately  and  willfully  would  do  so,  felones  de  se, 
like  them  that  will  break  into  a  man's  dwelling 
house,  whether  he  will  or  no."^ 

This  colony,  at  the  outset,  was  a  voluntary 
association  for  a  special  purpose.  No  one  en 
tered  into  it,  except  by  his  own  choice  and  de- 

*  Hubbard's  Hist.,  Chap.  LXVI. 


92 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 


sire,  and  with  a  full  understanding  of  the  object 
to  be  attained.  And  it  is  a  settled  maxim  of  the 
common  law,  that  every  voluntary  association 
has  the  right  of  prescribing  its  own  terms  of 
admission  and  membership.  If  any  one  should 
dislike  the  conditions,  they  are  no  ways  unjust 
as  to  him.  Let  him  either  stay  away,  or  join 
some  other  association  constructed  on  principles 
which  accord  with  his  own. 

That  our  forefathers,  in  the  first  days  of  their 
republic,  should  exclude  from  their  society  all 
disaffected  and  turbulent  characters,  is  to  be  re 
garded  as  an  act  of  self-defence,  rather  than  as 
an  aggression  upon  those  whom  they  expelled. 
Thus  in  the  sentence  of  banishment  passed  upon 
the  insidious  Anne  Hutchinson,  this  very  reason 
is  given  for  her  banishment,  that  she  was  a  per 
son  unfit  for  their  society  : — that  is,  unfit  to  be 
a  member  of  their  body  politic,  whose  existence 
was  endangered  by  her  residence  among  them. 
They  sent  her  ofF,  not  by  way  of  punishing  her 
corrupt  sentiments  or  disorderly  practices  against 
the  peace  of  the  country :  but  for  their  own  se 
curity,  and  the  preservation  of  the  state  of  things 
they  had  risked  and  sacrificed  so  much  to  estab 
lish.  With  them  it  was  a  struggle  between  life 
and  death.  And,  by  a  dire  necessity,  they  must 
maintain  their  ground  or  die.  They  had  not 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  93 

then  a  social  state  so  thoroughly  organized  and 
settled  down  in  a  fixed  condition,  having  strength 
to  stand  safe  against  all  the  earthquakes  and 
hurricanes  of  revolution.  No  :  in  their  weak, 
unsteady  plight,  they  were  reasonably  alarmed 
at  disturbances  and  commotions  which,  now  that 
we  are  strong  and  well  fenced,  only  excite  the 
contemptuous  smile  of  conscious  security.  That 
our  ancestors  took  this  view  of  the  case,  is  quite 
certain.  It  was  said  by  one  who  was  afterwards 
a  worthy  governor  of  the  colony,  but  then  one 
of  its  excellent  ministers  ; — "  Certainly  a  weaker 
body  cannot,  ought  not,  to  do  that,  or  suffer  that 
upon  itself,  or  in  itself,  upon  the  account  of  char 
ity  to  another,  which  a  stronger  body  may,  and 
in  some  cases  may  be  bound  to  do  or  suffer."*1 
When  Governor  Winthrop  was  called  in  ques 
tion  by  numerous  members  of  the  Boston  Church, 
for  his  agency  in  the  banishment  of  the  antino- 
mians,  he  first  made  an  effectual  protestation 
against  being  made  answerable  to  the  Church 
for  his  official  acts  as  a  magistrate,  though  re 
sponsible  for  his  private  conduct  as  a  man.  But 
for  the  satisfaction  of  weaker  brethren,  he  con 
descended  to  justify  his  course  by  several  rea 
sons.  In  doing  this  he  alluded  to  the  following 

*  W.  Stoughton's  Election  Sermon,  1668,  p.  33. 


94  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 


clause  in  his  oath  of  office; — "In  all  causes 
wherein  you  are  to  give  your  vote,  &c.,  you  are 
to  give  your  vote  as,  in  your  judgment  and 
conscience,  you  shall  see  to  be  most  for  the  pub 
lic  good."  "  And  so  for  his  part,"  he  adds,  "he 
was  persuaded  that  it  would  be  most  for  the 
glory  of  God,  and  the  public  good,  to  pass  sen 
tence  as  they  did.  He  saw,  that  those  brethren 
were  so  divided  from  the  rest  of  the  country  in 
their  judgment  and  practice,  as  it  could  not 
stand  with  the  public  peace,  that  they  should 
continue  amongst  us.  So,  by  the  example  of 
Lot  in  Abraham's  family,  and  after  Hagar  and 
Ishmael,  he  saw  they  must  be  sent  away."^ 
His  explanations  seem  very  satisfactory  now,  as 
they  were,  at  the  time  when  made,  to  those  for 
whom  they  were  designed.  So  true  was  the 
remark  which  Wirithrop  elsewhere  made  about 
the  Boston  people  ; — "  They  were  generally  of 
that  understanding  and  moderation,  as  that  they 
would  be  easily  guided  in  their  way  by  any  rule 
from  Scripture  or  sound  reason." 

Much  light  is  shed  upon  this  subject  by  a 
pamphlet  of  eighty-one  quarto  pages,  published 
in  1641,  by  Katharine  Chidley.t  It  is  entitled, 

*  Journal  I.  250. 

f  See  an  account  of  the  tract  in  Hanbury's  Memorials,  II.  112. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  95 

"  The  Justification  of  the  Independent  Churches 
of  Christ."  It  was  written  in  reply  to  one  whom 
Milton  has  doomed  to  everlasting  fame  as  "  shal 
low  Edwards,"  often  mentioned  also  as  "  Gan 
grene  Edwards."  He  had  asserted,  that  the 
New  England  men  "  will  not  give  a  toleration 
for  any  other  ecclesiastical  government  or  church 
es."  In  her  reply,  Mrs.  Chidley  tells  him, 
among  other  things,  that  if  it  had  been  so,  it 
was  because  they  had,  in  England,  taken  upon 
them  the  oath  of  conformity.  She  then  goes  on 
to  argue,  that  her  co-religionists  in  New  Eng 
land  were  afraid,  that,  if  they  suffered  any  noto 
rious  disorders  and  dangerous  sects  to  spring  up 
among  them,  they  should  be  summoned  to  Lon 
don  to  answer  for  their  negligence.  It  had  been 
a  grand  charge  against  Congregationalism,  that 
the  laxity  of  its  discipline  opened  the  door  for  all 
manner  of  irregularities  and  fanatical  explosions. 
It  had  been  so  often  and  so  reproachfully  alledged, 
that  this  was  the  tendency  of  their  system,  that 
our  fathers  had  a  natural  sensitiveness  upon  the 
subject,  and  felt  constrained  to  put  down  every 
thing  among  themselves  which  was  likely  to 
give  currency  to  this  charge.  Knowing  how 
closely  they  were  watched  for  some  pretence  to 
deprive  them  of  their  colonial  privileges,  they 
trembled  lest  sects  should  arise  in  the  midst  ol 


96  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

them,  whose  numbers,  outbreaks  and  extrava 
gances  might  furnish  the  adversaries  with  a 
plea  for  destroying  the  whole  enterprise. 

Our  fathers  sundered  the  heart-strings  of  at 
tachment  which  tied  them  to  the  home  and 
friends  of  their  youth,  and  fled  into  the  wilder 
ness  from  the  dragon  of  persecution  to  obtain 
liberty  for  their  own  consciences ;  and  not  for 
all  other  consciences,  however  unconscionable 
and  perverted. 

Why  should  they  have  been  tolerant  of  the 
Church  of  England  men  who  straggled  in  among 
them,  when  they  knew  that  that  terrible  oppres 
sor,  archbishop  Laud,  and  others,  had  obtained 
so  early  as  1635,  a  royal  commission  for  the 
government  of  the  plantations,  with  absolute 
power  "  to  make  laws  and  constitutions,  con 
cerning  either  their  state  public  or  the  utility  of 
individuals,  and  for  the  relief  of  the  clergy  to 
consign  convenient  maintenance  unto  them  by 
tithes  and  oblations  and  other  profits  according 
to  their  discretion."  This  commission  also  gave 
power  to  punish  all  opposers  by  imprisonment, 
or  by  the  taking  of  life,  or  dismemberment  of 
limbs.  The  formidable  prelate  and  infatuated 
king,  to  be  sure,  found  themselves  too  much 
busied  with  work  nearer  home,  to  carry  this 
atrocious  commission  into  effect.  But  mean- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  97 

while  our  fathers  were  quaking  under  apprehen 
sions,  that  they  would  soon  see  ship  loads  of  the 
ecclesiastical  fetters,  from  which  they  had  fled, 
sent  after  them.  And  what  person  in  his  senses 
can  blame  them  for  doing-  all  they  could  to  dis 
courage  the  residence  among  them  of  men,  who 
would  be  all  ready  to  rivet  those  fetters  on  as 
soon  as  they  could  be  landed  ?  The  Puritan 
settlers  chose  rather  to  bear  themselves  the 
charge  of  bigotry,  than  to  surfer  their  children 
to  be  enslaved  under  the  Romanized  hierarchy 
of  the  tyrannical  Stuarts.  Now  to  keep  out,  if 
possible,  that  abhorred  hierarchy,  they  must 
have  a  general  rule  for  the  excluding  of  all  sects 
from  political  power  and  influence.  It  would 
not  have  answered  to  tolerate  all  other  sects,  and 
to  exclude  only  that  which  was  established  by 
law  in  the  mother  country,  and  which  would 
have  required  nothing  more  than  the  pointed 
affront  of  such  an  exclusion  to  provoke  it  to 
wield  the  dread  powers  with  which  it  had  been 
armed  by  the  royal  commission.  They  must 
tolerate  all  or  none.  To  have  tolerated  all, 
would  have  been  suicidal,  for  it  would  have  in 
vited  the  coming  of  those  who  were  empowered 
to  wrest  away  the  whole  of  their  dear-bought 
liberties.  And  therefore,  though  they  silently 
overlooked  much  quiescent  dissent  from  their 
VOL.  11.  9 


98  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

own  views,  and  connived  at  many  peaceable 
dissenters,  they  professed  no  open  toleration  of 
any. 

The  English  court  well  understood  the  mo 
tives  of  all  this  defensive  policy.  This  was  the 
reason  why  Charles  the  Second  interposed  to 
protect  the  Quakers  in  Massachusetts,  though 
he  suppressed  them  in  England.  He  made 
common  cause  with  them  in  this  country,  be 
cause  he  saw  that  the  exclusion  of  the  Quakers 
was  part  of  a  policy  intended  to  keep  out  those 
who  would  co-operate  with  him,  in  the  introduc 
tion  of  his  hierarchal  idols.  He  knew  that  if 
he  could  effect  a  toleration  for  the  Quakers,  it 
must  also  extend  to  his  minions  and  the  minis 
ters  of  his  will. 

Moreover  those  other  dissenting  sects,  were 
imbued  with  the  same  spirit  of  intolerance  as 
the  hierarchy  :  and  could  any  one  of  them  have 
obtained  the  numerical  ascendancy  here,  there 
is  reason  to  think,  that  it  would  have  proceeded 
to  root  up  at  once  all  that  had  been  done  by  our 
fathers.  Thus  we  see  that  when  the  Quakers 
obtained  the  ascendancy  in  Rhode  Island,  they 
turned  upon  Roger  Williams,  stripped  him  of 
his  political  influence,  subverted  his  arrange 
ments,  and  reduced  him  nearly  to  a  nullity  in 
the  very  refuge  he  had  opened  for  them. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  99 

Our  fathers  have  been  ably  vindicated  by  the 
Honorable  Josiah  Quincy,  L.  L.  D.,  in  an  ad 
dress  delivered  to  the  citizens  of  Boston,  at  the 
second  centennary  of  the  settlement  of  that  place. 
He  has  defended  them  with  the  penetration  of  a 
jurist,  and  the  wisdom  of  a  scientific  politician. 
He  has  made  it  manifest,  that  common  prudence, 
and  not  a  blind  bigotry,  led  to  the  course  they 
pursued.  "  It  cannot  be  questioned,"  he  says, 
"  that  the  constitution  of  the  State,  as  sketched 
in  the  first  laws  of  our  ancestors,  was  a  skillful 
combination  of  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical  pow 
ers.  Church  and  State  were  very  curiously  and 
efficiently  interwoven  with  each  other.  It  is 
usual  to  attribute  to  religious  bigotry  the  sub 
mission  of  the  mass  of  the  people  to  a  system 
thus  stern  and  exclusive.  It  may,  however, 
with  quite  as  much  justice,  be  resolved  into  love 
of  independence  and  political  sagacity."^  Their 
plan  was  to  base  the  liberties  of  the  country  on 
a  system  of  independent  churches.  And  while 
this  plan  gave  much  political  influence  to  the 
ministers,  there  was  a  safeguard  against  the 
abuse  of  that  influence,  in  the  right  of  each 
church  to  make  a  final  determination  in  its  own 
affairs. 


*  Address,  page  32. 


100  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

As  the  result  of  the  course  pursued  by  the 
early  settlers  of  New  England,  we  see  a  com 
monwealth  in  which  their  great  object  has  been 
happily  accomplished.  We  see  an  almost  unex 
ampled  religious  prosperity,  and  the  most  ample 
enjoyment  of  personal  liberty  and  security,  in 
"  a  church  without  a  prelate,  and  a  state  without 
a  king." 

Nor  can  we  drop  the  discussion  of  this  subject 
without  the  remark,  that  it  is  wrong  to  try  the 
actions  of  men  in  one  age,  by  the  standard  of 
another.  Tried  by  the  standard  of  their  own 
age,  our  fathers  would  not  be  found  an  intoler 
ant  class.  The  rights  of  conscience  and  of  re 
ligious  liberty,  as  matters  lying  exclusively 
between  the  soul  of  man  and  his  God,  were 
points  which  few  had  considered.  It  has  been 
said,  that  Roger  Williams  was  the  first  to  claim 
entire  freedom  for  the  conscience  from  all  hu 
man  control.  This  is  a  great  mistake.  Before 
he  was  born,  the  United  Provinces  of  Holland, 
in  1573,  had  established  by  law  a  universal  tol 
eration  of  sects.  And  while  little  Williams 
was  handling  his  horn-book  at  his  grandma's 
knee,  the  excellent  Henry  Jacob,  the  founder  of 
the  first  Congregational  Church  ever  gathered 
in  England,  printed  the  first  document  which 
ever  plead  with  Authority  for  entire  religious 


LIFE      OF     JOHN      WILSON.  101 

toleration.  It  is  a  quarto,  of  forty-eight  pages. 
It  is  addressed  "  To  the  Right  High  and  Mighty 
Prince,  James,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  King  of 
Great  Brittanie,  France  and  Ireland,  Defender 
of  the  Faith,  &c. — An  Humble  Supplication  for 
Toleration,  and  Liberty  to  enjoy  and  observe 
the  Ordinances  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  adminis 
tration  of  his  Churches  in  lieu  of  human  Consti 
tutions,  1609."^  Five  or  six  years  later, 
appeared  some  tracts  on  the  same  subject  by 
persons  of  the  Baptist  persuasion,  on  which 
Crosby  and  others  have  grounded  a  mistaken 
boast  of  the  priority  of  that  sect  in  this  good 
work.  This  honor  belongs  to  Henry  Jacob,  the 
father  of  the  modern  Independents.  Still  these 
were  but  the  speculations  of  a  few  individuals. 
The  united  current  of  public  sentiment  in  the 
whole  Christian  world  set  strongly  the  other 
way.  So  that  our  ancestors  appear  to  great 
advantage,  as  far  in  advance  of  their  own  times, 
even  in  this  particular  wherein  they  seem  so 
much  below  the  standard  of  ours. 

It  has  happened  with  the  Puritans  as  with 
Shakspeare.  There  are  many  passages  in  the 
dramas  of  that  poet,  which  must  mark  him  as 


*  For  an  account  of  this  interesting  Tract,  see  Hanbury's  Memo 
rials  of  the  Independents,  I.  224,  7. 

9* 


102          LIFE      OF     JOHN     WILSON. 

an  impure  man  and  polluted  writer,  if  we  try 
him  by  the  rules  of  decorum  now  observed. 
But  if  we  compare  him  with  the  authors  of  his 
own  day,  we  shall  be  surprised  to  see  how  far 
he  exceeded  them  in  decency,  and  the  sense  of 
that  beauty  and  loveliness  with  which  virtue  is 
so  delicately  graced.  When  our  fathers  are 
compared  with  the  men  of  their  own  times,  we 
see  them  leading  on  the  van  as  well  of  religious 
as  of  civil  liberty. 

It  has  been  justly  said,  by  D'Israeli ; — "  Men 
who  appear  at  certain  eras  of  society,  however 
they  be  lauded  for  what  they  have  done,  are 
still  liable  to  be  censured  for  not  doing  what 
they  ought  to  have  done."  It  is  easy  for  our 
modern  smatterers  and  whipsters  to  start  up, 
and  petulantly  condemn  our  sires  for  not 
seeing  some  things  as  clearly  as  we  do  after  the 
increasing  light  of  two  centuries.  "  Just  so," 
says  Macaulay,  "  we  have  heard  a  baby  mounted 
on  the  shoulders  of  his  father,  cry  out,  '  How 
much  taller  I  am  than  papa !'  "  It  is  too  much 
to  expect  that  such  prating  sciolists  will  ever 
have  reflection  enough  to  consider,  that  our  an 
cestors  then  lived  in  the  midst  of  great  moral 
changes: — and  that,  "in  sudden  alterations,  it 
is  not  to  be  expected  that  all  things  be  done  by 
the  square  and  compass." 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  103 


Look  at  the  English  commonwealth  under 
the  protectorate  of  Cromwell,  when  religious 
affairs  were  conducted  according  to  the  ideas  of 
the  Independents  who  were  then  in  the  ascen 
dant.  Cromwell's  senate  enacted  a  law,  abolish 
ing  all  penal  statutes  for  religion,  and  allowing 
every  one  to  think  and  worship  as  he  pleased, 
on  taking  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  government. 

Compare  the  conduct  of  the  Puritans  as  to 
the  spirit  of  toleration  in  either  hemisphere,  with 
that  of  any  other  governments,  in  or  near  their 
own  times.  Compare  it  with  the  behavior  of 
that  regal  butcher,  the  eighth  Henry.  Of  Ed 
ward  the  Sixth,  we  may  speak  in  just  commend 
ation,  for  he  was  a  Puritan  so  far  as  a  crowned 
prince  could  be.  But  look  at  the  "  bloody 
Mary ;  "  and  Elizabeth,  with  crimson  stains 
almost  as  deep  as  her  sister's  ;  and  Charles  the 
First,  whose  bigotry  was  of  the  most  insensate 
kind.  Compared  with  these,  Endicott  and  the 
harshest  of  the  Puritans,  were  mildness  and 
liberality  itself.  Or  contrast  Puritan  adminis 
tration  with  that  of  Charles  the  Second  after 
the  restoration,  whose  hypocrisy  and  profligacy 
made  his  Stuart  bigotry  the  more  dark  and  hid 
eous.  This  perjured  and  debauched  head  of 
the  Anglican  Church,  by  the  act  of  uniformity, 
silenced  in  one  day  two  thousand  Puritan  min- 


104  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

isters,  who  were  deprived  of  their  livings,  for 
bidden  from  preaching,  keeping  schools,  taking 
boarders,  or  living  within  five  miles  of  any 
place  where  they  had  lived  before,  and  might 
have  friends  who  would  relieve  them.  And 
yet,  the  historians  record  the  pleasing  fact,  that, 
"  during  twenty-eight  years  of  sufferings,  their 
enemies  were  never  gratified  by  any  resistance  ; 
nor  was  any  of  them  imprisoned  for  debt." 
During  the  reign  of  that  "  lord  of  misrule,"  and 
of  his  brother,  James  the  Second,  near  eight 
thousand  non-conformists  perished  in  prison,  for 
dissenting  from  the  national  worship  ;  and  a 
list  was  made  of  some  sixty  thousand  persons 
who  suffered  in  various  ways  for  the  same 
offence. 

Speaking  of  the  divines  ejected  by  the  Act  of 
Uniformity,  it  was  observed  at  the  time,  by  a 
person  who  was  not  a  dissenter  ; — "  I  am  glad 
so  many  have  chosen  suffering,  rather  than  con 
formity  to  the  establishment ;  for,  had  they  com 
plied,  the  Vorld  would  have  thought  there  had 
been  nothing  in  religion ;  but  now  they  have 
given  a  striking  proof,  that  there  are  some  sincere 
in  their  professions."  Some  ministers,  who  had 
conformed  from  worldliness  rather  than  con 
science,  once  taunted  Mr.  Christopher  Jackson, 
who  was  of  the  immortal  two  thousand,  with 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  105 


having  "  a  bare  coat."  He  tartly  retorted ; — 
"If  it  is  bare,  it  is  not  turned."  How  much 
more  honorable  is  such  poverty,  than  the  afflu 
ence  gained  by  the  sacrifice  of  principle  !  In 
the  many  revolutions  of  the  English  Church 
from  Henry  VIII.,  to  William  III.,  there  were 
enough  of  ministers  who  changed  with  the 
times,  subscribed  all  the  articles  required,  swore 
all  the  oaths  exacted,  and  followed  all  the  relig 
ions  imposed  by  law,  without  the  slightest 
regard  to  consistency,  except  in  the  one  point 
of  keeping  their  benefices,  like  "  the  vicar  of 
Bray."  They  were  like  vessels  riding  at  anchor 
in  tide-water,  heading  either  way  as  the  current 
changed,  but  without  quitting  their  moorings. 
Or,  to  vary  the  comparison,  they  were  like  the 
millers,  who,  though  they  cannot  turn  the  wind, 
can  turn  their  mill -sails,  so  that  however  it 
blows,  they  are  sure  to  grind  their  grist.  In 
such  times,  it  was  no  small  praise,  that  the 
Puritans  with  so  great  constancy,  bore  persecu 
tions  very  far  exceeding  in  severity  aught  that 
they  have  been  charged  with  inflicting. 

Thus  great  complaint  has  been  made  against 
our  fathers,  because  they  had  laws  by  which 
persons  who  absented  themselves  from  public 
worship  a  certain  number  of  times  in  succession, 
without  good  and  sufficient  reason,  were  liable 


106  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

to  fines  and  other  penalties.  But  were  they 
alone  in  this  sin  of  enforcing  attendance  on 
public  worship  ?  By  a  law  passed  in  England 
in  the  thirty-fifth  year  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  per 
sons  obstinately  refusing  to  come  to  church, 
were  doomed  to  banishment,  and  were  sentenced 
to  death  if  they  returned  from  banishment.  Or 
turn,  if  you  please,  to  "  the  old  dominion,"  the 
ancient  colony  of  Virginia,  settled  by  cavaliers 
and  zealous  Church  of  England  men.  In  the 
first  code  of  laws  adopted  for  that  government, 
we  find  the  following  sanguinary  clause  : — 
"  Likewise  no  man  or  woman,  shall  dare  to 
violate  or  breake  the  Sabboth  by  any  gaming, 
publique,  or  priuate  abroad,  or  at  home,  but 
duly  sanctifie  and  obserue  the  same,  both  him- 
selfe  and  his  familie,  by  preparing  themselues 
at  home  with  priuate  prayer,  that  they  may  be 
the  better  fitted  for  the  publique,  according  to 
the  commandments  of  God,  and  the  orders  of 
our  Church,  as  also  euery  man  and  woman  shall 
repaire  in  the  morning  to  the  diuine  seruice, 
and  sermons  preached  vpon  the  Sabboth  day, 
and  in  the  afternoon  to  diuine  seruice,  and 
Catechising,  vpon  paine  for  the  first  favlt  to 
lose  their  prouision,  and  allowance  for  the 
whole  weeke  following,  for  the  second  to  lose 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  107 

the  said  allowance,  and  also  to  be  whipt,  and 
for  the  third  to  suffer  death."  * 

In  comparison  with  these  severe  statutes,  the 
penal  laws  of  the  New  England  colonies  com 
pelling  the  same  duties,  are  mildness  itself. 
But  how  comes  it  to  pass,  that  men  are  ever 
declaiming  with  such  bitterness  against  our 
"  Blue-Laws,"  most  of  which  indeed  never  ex 
isted  except  in  imagination  ?  And  yet  the  same 
men  have  never  a  word  to  say  against  the 
Black-Laws  of  "  good  queen  Bess,"  nor  the 
Blood-Laws  of  the  gay  cavaliers  of  Roanoke  ? 
If  the  enactments  of  our  fathers  on  this  point 
were  based  upon  an  erroneous  principle,  it  is 
certainly  contrary  to  the  truth  of  history  and 
moral  justice,  to  represent  them  as  sinning  in 
this  respect  above  all  that  dwelt  on  the  earth  in 
their  time. 

The  age  will  arrive  when  the  Pilgrims  will 
be  regarded  as  having  been  surprisingly  in 
advance  of  their  generation,  even  in  the  matter 
for  which  they  have  been  so  much  reproached. 
They  strove  to  find  a  moderate  or  middle  way 
of  procedure.  Their  maxim  was  ; — "  To  tol 
erate  all  things,  and  to  tolerate  nothing,  are  both 


*  See  the  Laws  at  large  in  the  third  volume  of  Force's  Historical 
Tracts. 


10S  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

alike  intolerable."  The  maxim  is  not  so  very 
bad.  They  sometimes  erred  in  its  application. 
Our  fathers  have  been  severely  blamed  for 
the  banishment  of  Roger  Williams.  It  has  been 
a  matter  of  wonder,  that  they  could  not  bear 
with  such  a  sir '?re  good  man  in  his  harmless 
peculiarities.  That  he  was  a  good  man,  we 
make  no  doubt ; — that  he  was  a  safe  or  harmless 
man,  is  not  so  clear.  This  fiery  Welchman 
had  a  conscience  which  was  a  snarl  of  tangled 
scrupulosities  ;  and  he  was  frantic  to  cast  the 
same  intricate  net  over  the  heads  of  all  around 
him.  His  principles  and  practices  were  such  as 
must  have  frustrated  the  whole  design  of  the 
colony,  and  must  have  been  fatal  to  its  peace 
and  permanence.  Mather  uses  the  following 
singular  similitude  in  regard  to  him.  "  In  the 
year  1654,  a  certain  windmill  in  the  Low  Coun 
tries,  whirling  round  with  extraordinary  vio 
lence,  by  reason  of  a  violent  storm  then  blowing; 
the  stone,  at  length,  by  its  rapid  motion,  became 
so  intensely  hot  as  to  fire  the  mill,  from  whence 
the  flames,  being  dispersed  by  the  high  winds, 
did  set  a  whole  town  on  fire.  But  I  can  tell 
my  reader,  that,  about  twenty  years  before  this, 
there  was  a  whole  country  in  America  like  to 
be  set  on  fire  by  the  rapid  motion  of  a  windmill, 
in  the  head  of  one  particular  man.  Know  then, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  109 

that  about  the  year  1630,  arrived  here  one  Mr. 
Roger  Williams  ;  who  being  a  preacher  that  had 
less  light  than  fire  in  him,  hath,  by  his  own  sad 
example,  preached  to  us  the  danger  of  that  evil 
which  the  apostle  mentions  ; — They  have  a  zeal, 
but  not  according  to  knoivledge."  * 

At  his  first  coming,  he  would  not  join  any 
church  here,  whose  members  would  not  profess 
repentance  for  having  formerly  communed  in 
the  parish  churches  of  England.  He  held  that 
the  magistrates  could  not  rightfully  punish 
offences  against  "  the  first  table  ;  "  that  is  to 
say,  the  first  four  commands  of  the  decalogue  : — 
an  opinion  which  has  never  yet  been  acceded  to 
by  the  good  people  of  Massachusetts  ;  whose 
Revised  Statutes  still  contain  enactments  against 
blasphemy  and  Sabbath-breaking.  At  Salem, 
he  taught  that  the  patent,  or  charter  of  the  col 
ony,  was  a  mere  nullity ;  thus  destroying  all  the 
rights  of  property  acquired  under  it.  He  in 
sisted  that  it  should  be  hurled  back  to  the 
monarch,  whom  he  taxed  with  uttering  lies  and 
blasphemy  in  that  very  document.  He  refused 
the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  disowned  the  au 
thority  of  the  existing  government.  He  not 
only  denied  the  right  of  the  government  to  pro- 

*  Magnalia.     Book  VII.  Ch.  II.  Sec.  2. 
VOL.    II.       10 


110  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

vide  for  the  raising  of  money  for  religious 
purposes,  but  even  for  the  support  of  schools ; 
and  thus  would  have  bereft  the  children  of  New 
England  of  the  glorious  birthright  of  free  and 
universal  education.  He  refused  to  hold  com 
munion  with  his  own  church,  unless  its  mem 
bers  would  renounce  all  fellowship  with  the 
other  churches  : — an  act  which  must  have  sepa 
rated  all  the  freemen  in  it  from  civil,  as  well  as 
ecclesiastical,  connection  with  the  other  mem 
bers  of  the  body  politic.  He  wrote  to  the 
churches  of  which  the  magistrates  were  indi 
vidually  members,  complaining  of  their  official 
acts,  and  urging  that  they  should  be  disciplined 
for  the  same  : — this  too  was  a  plain  moving  of 
sedition  ;  for  the  excommunication  of  a  magis 
trate  must  have  taken  away  his  franchise, — and 
with  it,  the  capacity  to  hold  his  office. 

This  good-hearted  and  wrong-headed  man 
held  many  other  extravagant  notions  of  minor 
importance  ;  refusing  to  commune  with  his  own 
wife,  because  she  would  not  cast  off  all  Christ 
ian  fellowship  but  his  ;  causing  Endicott  to  cut 
the  cross  out  of  the  flag  which  protected  the 
country,  thereby  involving  the  colony  in  ex 
treme  perplexity  and  considerable  peril ;  deny 
ing  that  magistrates  may  administer  an  oath  to 
an  unregenerate  man  ;  opposing  family  prayer. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  Ill 

if  any  unregenerate  soul  were  present ;  contend 
ing  that  thanks  must  not  be  returned  after 
meals  ;  and  upholding  many  other  such  like  un- 
socialities  and  absurdities. 

Can  we  think  it  strange  that  our  fathers  were 
filled  with  consternation  at  the  movements  of 
this  erratic  genius  ?  At  every  expense,  they 
were  toiling  to  rear  the  frame-work  of  their  new 
social  state.  And  now  they  felt  the  fabric  reel 
ing  and  tottering  under  his  frantic  and  convul 
sive  efforts  to  lay  the  whole  in  ruins  :  for  the 
structure  was  then  far  from  being  braced,  and 
pinned,  and  knit  together  with  the  garnished 
strength  it  now  exhibits.  With  many  excellent 
traits  of  character,  Mr.  Williams  was  a  reckless, 
turbulent,  seditious  "  non-resistant  and  no-hu 
man-government  man."  Even  in  our  day,  such 
an  one  has  been  "lynched"  in  the  city  of  Bos 
ton  by  "  a  mob  of  gentlemen,"  and  protected 
from  farther  violence  only  by  a  sort  of  incarce 
ration  : — and  this  was  done  at  an  era  when  we 
have  nothing  to  fear,  as  to  our  social  institu 
tions,  from  such  wild  opinionists.  Inexcusable 
as  such  a  measure  has  now  become,  who  are 
we,  that  we  should  reproach  our  sires  with 
their  treatment  of  Williams  ?  With  them  the 
case  was  far  different.  He  was  jeopardizing 
the  whole  success  of  their  costly  experiment, 


112  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 


and  threatening  to  demolish  their  dearest  hopes. 
*And  shall  they  be  blamed  for  hurling-  the  fire 
brand  out  of  doors,  and  quenching  the  flames 
before  they  had  kindled  among  the  chips  and 
shavings,  and  spread  through  the  whole  of  the 
unfinished  building  ?  No  man  can  charge 
them  with  inconsistency  for  refusing  tolerance 
to  one,  who  was  madly  striking  at  their  very 
vitals,  and  endangering  their  existence.  At 
least,  no  man  can  so  charge  them,  who  does  not 
senselessly  shut  his  eyes  to  the  facts  as  they 
then  stood.  For  our  fathers  in  their  then  ex 
isting  circumstances,  to  have  let  this  ruthless 
agitator  go  on  without  stopping  him,  would 
have  been  to  consent  to  their  own  destruction. 

It  has  been  ailed ged,  that  his  banishment  was 
attended  with  needless  and  aggravated  harsh 
ness  ; — that  he  was  forced  to  fly  in  the  winter, 
and  to  find  a  refuge  among  savages.  But  these 
hardships  he  precipitated  upon  himself  by  his 
restless  turbulence.  He  could  have  tarried  till 
the  spring  :  but  abusing  this  indulgence  to  carry 
on  his  machinations,  the  rulers  were  preparing 
to  send  him  for  trial  to  England,  in  a  ship 
which  was  about  sailing.  Knowing  that  much 
severer  handling  would  await  him  in  the  mother 
country,  he  secretly  withdrew.  In  his  new 
refuge  he  was  never  molested ;  though  his 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  113 

vicinity,  and  the  influence  he  exercised  through 
his  writings  and  his  emissaries,  caused  great 
uneasiness  to  our  ancestors. 

Governor  Winthrop  befriended  him  in  his 
difficult  undertaking ;  and  scores  of  amicable 
letters  passed  between  them.  Winslow,  then 
Governor  of  the  Plymouth  colony,  visited  him  at 
his  rude  habitation,  and  aided  his  wife  with 
money.  When  his  occasions  required  it,  he 
was  permitted  to  pass,  untroubled,  through  our 
territory.  On  his  own  part,  he  showed  such 
generous  magnanimity  toward  the  Massachu 
setts  settlers,  as  sets  his  Christian  character  in  a 
commendable  light,  and  disposes  us  to  grant 
such  absolution  as  we  may  for  his  many  previ 
ous  errors. 

It  is  quite  remarkable,  that  Mr.  Williams 
should  afterwards  indirectly  sanction  the  justice 
of  the  procedure  against  himself,  by  procuring 
a  similar  sentence  of  banishment  upon  Samuel 
Gorton.  This  Gorton  was  a  strange  fanatic,  a 
self-styled  "Professor  of  Mysteries,"  who  hav 
ing  been  sued  in  Massachusetts  for  debt, 
behaved  in  court  so  mutinously  and  abusively, 
that  he  was  fined  and  expelled  from  the  juris 
diction.  He  then  betook  himself  to  the  Rhode 
Island  colony,  "  where  he  affronted  what  little 
government  they  had  with  such  intolerable  in- 
10* 


114  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

solericies,  that  he  was  then  whipped  and  sent 
out  of  that  colony."  He  then  repaired  to  the 
Providence  Plantations,  where  he  committed 
such  outrages,  that  Mr.  Williams  and  his  peo 
ple  entreated  the  Massachusetts  government  for 
protection  from  Gorton  and  his  outlaws.  The 
result  of  this  application  was,  that  Gorton  was 
banished  again. 

Now  Williams  was  an  offender  of  the  same 
class  with  the  "  Gortonists  ;  "  and  the  laws  un 
der  which  he  had  suffered  some  seven  years 
before,  were  the  same  laws  which  he  waked  up 
against  that  crazy  crew.  If  it  was  right  for  him 
to  procure  the  banishment  of  Gorton,  then  was 
it  right  for  the  people  of  Massachusetts  to  ex 
clude  Mr.  Williams  from  their  community.  He 
has  afforded  the  strongest  practical  proof  of  the 
necessity  of  such  legislation  in  the  circumstances 
of  the  infant  colonies.  "  And  against  necessity, 
there  is  no  law."  As  Seneca  has  said  ; — "Ne 
cessity  excuses  whatever  it  exacts." 

No  man  can  say,  what  the  consequences 
would  have  been,  had  Mr.  Williams  remained 
in  Massachusetts,  to  leaven  the  people  with  his 
incongruous  mixture  of  sound  sentiments  and 
fantastical  opinions.  The  character  of  the  man 
has  left  its  impress  upon  the  genius  of  the  peo 
ple  of  Rhode  Island.  The  demonstrations  of 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  115 

the  mob-spirit  there  and  in  Pennsylvania,  have 
been  regarded  by  judicious  persons  as  the  natu 
ral  result  when  a  people  has  been  extensively 
pervaded  by  the  non-resistant  leaven.  After  a 
while,  that  leaven  will  pass  from  the  vinous 
to  the  acetous  fermentation.  Its  repugnance  to 
the  divine  ordinance  of  magistracy  and  lawful 
order  will  remain,  and  will  operate  with  explo 
sive  violence,  whenever  the  counteracting  repug 
nance  to  the  use  of  physical  force  shall  have 
evaporated  and  passed  away.  Every  commu 
nity  which  is  not  trained  to  venerate  the  law 
and  its  ministers,  must  have  a  strong  tendency 
to  anarchy  and  confusion. 

The  course  pursued  by  our  fathers  has  been 
amply  vindicated  by  those  best  able  to  judge  of 
its  propriety.  Among  others,  we  may  refer  to 
one  whom  it  is  needless  to  style  the  honorable 
John  Quincy  Adams.  In  a  discourse  recently 
published  by  him,  after  a  candid  recital  of  the 
insurrectionary  spirit  and  intolerable  proceed 
ings  of  Mr.  Williams  at  Salem,  he  asks ; — 
"Can  we  blame  the  founders  of  the  Massachu 
setts  colony  for  banishing  him  from  within  their 
jurisdiction  ?  In  the  annals  of  religious  perse 
cution,  is  there  to  be  found  a  martyr  more  gent 
ly  dealt  with  by  those  against  whom  he  began 
the  war  of  intolerance  ?  whose  authority  he  per- 


116  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

sisted,  even  after  professions  of  penitence  and 
submission,  in  defying,  till  deserted  even  by  the 
wife  of  his  bosom  ?  and  whose  utmost  severity 
of  punishment  upon  him  was  only  an  order  for 
his  removal  as  a  nuisance  from  among  them? "  * 
Let  newspaper  witlings  scribble  as  they  may, 
their  detractions  cannot  blast  the  memory  of  the 
men  whom  "  the  sage  of  Quincy"  has  thus 
frankly  justified. 

Our  fathers  have  been  severely  rebuked  for 
not  tolerating  the  Baptists  at  their  first  appear 
ance  among  us.  No  one  has  undertaken  to 
apologize  for  them  in  this  matter.  And  yet,  in 
addition  to  the  general  considerations  already 
advanced,  there  are  such  as  greatly  alleviate  the 
blame  which  may  attach  to  their  treatment  of  a 
sect  now  so  respectable. 

It  had  never  been  known  as  an  organized 
body  till  the  rise  of  the  Anabaptists  in  Germany, 
in  the  sixteenth  century.  They  who  have  read 
the  history  of  that  period  are  well  aware,  that, 
in  all  the  fury  of  fanaticism,  that  sect  waged  a 
wild  crusade  against  every  government  which 
would  not  join  them,  laying  waste  the  country, 


*  The  New  England  Confederacy  of  MDCXLIII.     A  Discourse  de 
livered  before  the  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.     1843.  pp.  25—30. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  117 

and  giving  themselves  up  to  the  most  shocking 
excesses,  till  they  were  with  difficulty  sup 
pressed  and  dispersed.  This  is  no  place  to 
recount  the  horrors  they  enacted.  We  are  un 
willing  to  dwell  upon  them.  Suffice  it  to  say, 
that  our  fathers,  in  whose  memory  these  trage 
dies  were  fresh,  regarded  an  Anabaptist  even  as 
Edmund  Burke  would  have  regarded  a  French 
Jacobin  reeking  from  the  atrocities  of  "  the 
reign  of  terror."  Now  this  infelicity  attending 
the  origin  of  the  Baptists  as  a  distinct  denomi 
nation,  occasioned  them,  at  the  first  forming  of 
their  churches  in  Britain,  which  was  about  the 
time  of  the  settlement  of  this  country,  to  be  re 
garded  with  extreme  anxiety  and  foreboding  of 
direful  results.  Though  these  dark  suspicions 
have  proved  to  be  groundless  and  unjust,  yet, 
under  the  circumstances,  they  were  very  natu 
ral  ;  and  it  is  not  strange,  that  the  Baptists 
were  subjected  to  strong  opposition  from  such 
as  feared  that  they  would  walk  in  the  bloody 
tracks  of  their  German  predecessors.  Thus  one 
of  the  historians  speaks  of  the  laws  made  to 
restrain  their  proceedings,  in  these  terms  ; — 
"  The  General  Court  were  so  afraid  lest  mat 
ters  might  at  last,  from  small  beginnings,  grow 
into  a  new  Minister  tragedy,  that  they  enacted 
some  laws  to  restrain  anabaptist  exorbitances  ; 


118  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

which  laws,  though  never  executed  unto  the  ex 
tremity  of  them,  yet  were  soon  laid  by,  as  to 
any  execution  of  them  at  all."  ^ 

This  explanation  has  been  boldly  denied  by 
some,  who  maintain,  that  the  Baptists  were  too 
well  known  as  to  their  principles  and  temper,  to 
leave  them  liable  to  such  suspicions.  It  is  cer 
tain,  however,  that,  though  the  German  anabap 
tists  had  been  for  near  a  century  endeavoring  to 
spread  their  sentiments  in  Great  Britain,  they 
met  with  little  or  no  success.  No  churches  of 
that  order  were  formed  till  about  the  time  the 
New  England  emigrants  left  that  country  :  nor 
did  such  churches  become  at  all  numerous,  till 
the  time  of  the  civil  wars,  when  they  were 
greatly  favored  by  Cromwell's  famous  army.  It 
is  clear,  therefore,  that  our  ancestors  could  have 
had  no  special  knowledge  of  their  character,  ex 
cept  what  they  inferred  from  the  behavior  of 
those  unhappy  Germans. 

That  we  have  assigned  the  true  reason  of  the 
proceedings  of  our  fathers,  is  evident  from  the 
very  terms  of  the  law,  as  it  stands  on  the  Mas 
sachusetts'  records,  under  date  of  the  thirteenth 
of  November,  1644. 

"  Forasmuch  as  experience  hath   plentifully 

*  Magnalia,  Book  VII.,  Ch.  Rr.,  Sec.  4. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  119 


and  often  proved,  that,  since  the  first  rising  of 
the  Anabaptists,  about  one  hundred  years  since, 
they  have  been  the  incendiaries  of  the  common 
wealths,  and  the  infectors  of  persons  in  main 
matters  of  religion,  and  the  troublers  of  churches 
in  all  places  where  they  have  been,  and  that  they 
who  have  held  the  baptizing  of  infants  unlawful 
have  usually  held  other  errors  or  heresies  to 
gether  therewith,  though  they  have  (as  other 
heretics  use  to  do)  concealed  the  same  till  they 
spied  out  a  fit  advantage  and  opportunity  to  vent 
them,  by  way  of  question  or  scruple,  &c.,  &c.  ; 
it  is  ordered  and  agreed,  that  if  any  person  or 
persons,  within  this  jurisdiction,  shall  either 
openly  condemn  or  oppose  the  baptizing  of  in 
fants,  or  go  about  secretly  to  seduce  others  from 
the  approbation  or  use  thereof,  or  shall  purposely 
depart  the  congregation  at  the  administration  of 
the  ordinance,  or  shall  deny  the  ordinance  of 
magistracy,  or  their  lawful  right  and  authority 
to  make  war,  or  to  punish  the  outward  breaches 
of  the  first  table,  and  shall  appear  to  the  court 
willfully  and  obstinately  to  continue  therein  after 
due  time  and  means  of  conviction,  every  such 
person  or  persons  shall  be  sentenced  to  banish 
ment:'  * 

*  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Collections,  Second  Series,  I.  210. 


120  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

Such  was  the  law  :  from  which  it  plainly  ap 
pears,  that  the  practice  of  rebaptism  was  closely 
connected,  in  the  minds  of  the  legislators,  with 
the  German  atrocities,  as  well  as  with  hostility 
to  government,  and  to  the  magistrates'  care  over 
good  manners  and  morality.  It  is  readily  ad 
mitted,  that,  in  the  case  of  the  Baptists  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  there  was  no  occasion  for  these  fears. 
But  it  is  no  less  true,  that  our  fathers  felt  those 
fears,  and  acted  honestly,  though  mistakenly, 
under  the  influence  of  those  fears.  They  felt 
compelled  to  suppress  what  they  deemed  to  be 
sentiments  dangerous  to  the  peace  of  civil  soci 
ety.  It  has  been  already  intimated,  that  this 
law,  the  result  of  misapprehension,  was  not 
rigorously  enforced.  It  was  intended  only  for 
such  as  were  deemed  turbulent  and  factious 
offenders.  This  appears  from  a  Declaration  of 
the  General  Court  holden  at  Boston,  November 
fourth,  1646  ;  and  issued  by  order  of  court. 
From  this  we  take  the  following  paragraph. 
"  They  are  offended  also  at  our  lawe  against 
Anabaptists.  The  truth  is,  the  great  trouble 
we  have  been  putt  unto,  and  hazard  also,  by 
familisticall  and  anabaptisticall  spirits,  whose 
conscience  and  religion  hath  been  only  to  sett 
forth  themselves  and  raise  contentions  in  the 
country,  did  provoke  us  to  provide  for  our  safety 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  121 

by  a  lawe,  that  all  such  should  take  notice,  how 
unwelcome  they  should  be  unto  us,  either  come- 
ing  or  staying.  But  for  such  as  differ  from  us 
only  in  judgment,  in  point  of  baptism  or  some 
other  points  of  lesse  consequence,  and  live 
peaceably  amongst  us,  without  occasioning  dis 
turbance,  &c.,  such  have  no  cause  to  complaine  ; 
for  it  hath  never  beene  as  yet  putt  in  execution 
against  any  of  them,  although  such  are  knowne 
to  live  amongst  us."  ^  Thus  did  our  fathers 
speak  for  themselves  :  and  there  is  no  reason  to 
call  their  sincerity  in  question.  The  devastated 
fields  of  Germany  were,  in  a  manner,  still 
smoking  before  their  eyes.  They  knew,  that 
there  anabaptism  was  a  conspiracy,  whose  de 
clared  object  was  the  destruction  by  fire  and 
sword,  of  every  government  and  individual  who 
would  not  submit  to  the  new  baptism.  We  may 
smile  at  these  terrors  of  our  good  fathers,  and 
we  may  regret  the  measures  they  adopted  with 
a  view  to  secure  themselves  from  similar  disas 
ters.  But  to  them  the  danger  seemed  real  and 
imminent  :  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  they  acted 
like  people  in  a  state  of  alarm,  who  think 
of  safety,  rather  than  of  questions  of  abstract 
rights.  Time,  and  the  good  behavior  of  the 

*  Hutchinson's  State  Papers,  p.  216. 
VOL.    II.       11 


122  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

Baptists,  at  last  dispelled  their  fears,  and  gradu 
ally  and  speedily  brought  about  an  entire  tolera 
tion. 

As  some  fault  may  be  found  with  every  one, 
so  the  Baptists  themselves  were  not  wholly 
without  blame.  They  disturbed  the  public  wor 
ship  during  the  administration  of  infant  baptism, 
and  at  other  times,  by  openly  manifesting  their 
contempt  in  ways  that  gave  great  offence.  They 
resorted  also  to  other  irregularities,  which  even 
good  men  are  prone  to  do  when  excited  by  the 
ardor  of  a  new  reform,  or  the  expectation  of 
resistance  to  their  views.  These  things  tended 
still  further  to  excite  the  apprehensions  to  which 
the  community  were  already  predisposed,  that 
the  Anabaptist  sentiments  had  a  natural  and  in 
nate  connection  with  contempt  of  magistrates  and 
laws. 

Yet,  from  the  beginning,  men  of  that  persua 
sion  who  were  peaceably  disposed,  lived  quietly 
among  us,  and  even  retained  their  membership 
in  our  churches.  Two  of  the  early  presidents 
of  Harvard  College  were  known  to  be  of  this 
class.  There  was  no  disposition  to  trouble  people 
merely  for  holding  Baptist  sentiments  ;  unless, 
they  also,  in  some  way,  infringed  the  public 
peace.  Perhaps  of  all  the  sects  which  have 
become  rather  numerous  in  the  world,  the 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  123 

Baptists  have  been  the  least  persecuted  of  any. 
In  this  country,  a  few,  who  made  unnecessary 
difficulty,  were  banished  :  but,  in  general,  they 
were  patiently  borne  with,  and  suffered  less  and 
less  of  molestation  ;  till  the  people  became  satis 
fied  that  they  were  an  orderly  and  exemplary  sect 
of  Christians,  and  they  have  obtained  the  fullest 
equality  of  privileges,  whether  civil  or  religious. 
So  early  as  the  time  of  Dr.  Increase  Mather,  we 
find  him  assisting  to  ordain  the  pastor  of  a  Bap 
tist  church  in  his  neighborhood.^  At  the  present 
time,  it  cannot  be  said,  that  there  is  any  want  of 
kind  fraternal  feeling  between  those  brethren  and 
"  the  standing  order."  The  latter  are  certainly 
not  the  most  backward  to  cultivate  mutual  charity 
and  fraternal  communion. 

Our  fathers  have  been  violently  censured  for 
their  proceedings  in  reference  to  the  Quakers, 
which  is  the  only  remaining  point  belonging  to 
this  subject  which  requires  our  consideration. 

Most  of  the  allegations  against  the  Puritans 
are  derived  from  the  writings  of  the  Quakers 
themselves,  which  are  violent  and  abusive  beyond 
what  any  one  can  imagine  who  has  not  read 
them. 

Indeed  much  misapprehension  has  arisen  in 

*  Remarkables  of  Dr.  I.  Mather,  p.  61. 


124  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

respect  to  the  merits  of  this  business,  from  igno 
rance  of  what  the  Quakers  were  in  that  day.  It 
is  a  huge  mistake,  to  suppose,  as  many  do,  that 
they  were  the  same  sort  of  excellent,  inoffensive 
personages,  as  those  whom  we  now  see  arrayed 
in  sanctified  drab,  and  hats  with  pious  breadth 
of  brim.  Because  this  people  are  noted  in  our 
times,  for  their  mild  spirit  and  moral  virtues,  and 
are,  in  the  main,  good  members  of  society,  we 
are  not  to  suppose  at  once,  that  they  have  been 
so  from  the  beginning. 

In  truth,  they  were  then  a  dangerous  sect. 
Bishop  Burnet  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Princess 
Sophia  of  Hanover,  the  mother  of  the  first 
George,  and  ancestress  of  the  present  royal  fam 
ily  of  England.  He  penned  this  letter  under  the 
impression  that  that  princess  might  soon  be  called 
to  the  British  throne.  He  gives  her  information 
respecting  the  different  sects  of  dissenters,  con 
sidered  in  a  political  point  of  view ; — or  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  their  respective  principles  bore 
on  the  probable  welfare  of  the  government. 
Among  other  things,  he  says ; — "  The  most  ridic 
ulous,  and  yet  the  most  dangerous  sect  we  have 
among  us,  is  the  Quakers."  For  this  assertion 
the  good  bishop  has  been  laughed  to  scorn  ; — 
"  What !  the  Quakers  dangerous  !  a  people  so 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  125 


intensely  opposed  to  the  shedding  of  blood, 
dangerous  to  the  State !  What  folly  !  " 

But  after  all,  the  bishop  of  Old  Sarum  was 
apt  to  know  what  he  was  talking  about.  He 
thought  that  people  might  be  dangerous,  though 
without  dagger  in  hand,  or  pistol  in  belt.  He 
saw  that  their  transcendental  notions  about 
"  inward  light"  were  perilous  to  revealed  relig 
ion,  the  main  defence  and  support  of  Christian 
States.  He  saw,  that  their  non-resistance  senti 
ments  must  disarm  the  magistracy,  and  deprive 
justice  of  her  sword,  and  subvert  the  order  of 
society.  Even  the  government  of  Rhode  Island, 
in  a  letter  to  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts, 
dated  October,  1557,  makes  the  following  re 
mark  ; — "  We  conceive,  that  their  doctrines  tend 
to  very  absolute  cutting  down  and  overturning 
relations  and  civil  government  among  men,  if 
generally  received."^  In  1655,  the  government 
and  council  of  Rhode  Island  passed  an  order  for 
outlawing  the  people  called  Quakers,  because 
they  would  not  bear  arms,  and  to  seize  their 
estates ;  but  the  people  in  general  rose  up  against 
these  severe  orders,  and  would  not  suffer  it.t 

In  these  colonies,  the  early  Quakers  did  noth- 

*  Hutchinson's  History.    I,  526. 
t  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Col.     First  Series.  V.  219. 
11* 


126  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

ing  but  inveigh  with  astonishing  bitterness  and 
rancor  against  the  magistrates  and  ministers, 
whom,  without  waiting  for  any  provocation  they 
denounced  with  every  odious  epithet,  stirring 
up  with  all  their  might  the  spirit  of  insubordina 
tion.  Any  one  who  knows  in  what  profound 
veneration  our  ancestors  held  both  Moses  and 
Aaron,  both  the  magistrate  and  the  minister, 
must  see  what  indignation  the  Quakers  must 
have  excited  by  their  rabid  railings  against  whom 
they  called  the  "  charter  tyrants  and  the  charter 
priests." 

The  followers  of  George  Fox,  without  firing 
guns,  or  smiting  with  the  sword,  were  wholesale 
breakers  of  the  peace.  Not  content  to  operate 
within  their  own  sphere,  or  to  hold  forth  to  such 
as  were  willing  to  hear  them,  they  broke  in 
everywhere  without  regard  to  decency  and  the 
just  rights  of  others.  In  courts  of  justice  they 
volunteered  to  assail  the  judges  on  the  bench  with 
furious  tirades  against  them  and  their  offices. 
If,  tomorrow,  any  one  were  to  be  guilty  of  one 
tithe  of  the  "  contempt  of  court "  they  practiced, 
he  would  feel,  with  instant  rigor,  the  strong  arm 
of  the  law.  In  the  churches,  they  would  tumul- 
tuously  disturb  the  order  of  public  worship  with 
their  vociferous  harangues.  Men  and  women 
would  carry  on  noisy  mechanical  operations  in 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  127 

the  midst  of  divine  service,  by  way  of  practically 
testifying  their  devout  scorn  of  all  carnal  ordi 
nances: — and  this  would  be  done  through  a 
succession  of  Sabbaths,  unchecked  by  the  inflic 
tion  of  the  ordinary  penalties  for  misdemeanors  of 
that  nature.  Of  late,  we  have  seen  certain  noted 
men  and  women  taken  out  of  conventions  and 
churches  by  main  strength,  because  they  would 
not  restrain  that  unruly  member,  the  tongue. 
Nay,  our  own  civil  tribunals  have  dealt  with 
these  characters  according  to  course  of  law,  for 
breaking  the  peace  ; — and  yet  the  mal-practices 
so  punished  were  trifling  in  comparison  with 
those  which  harrowed  the  feelings  and  exhausted 
the  patience  of  our  forefathers.  Perhaps  the 
recent  acts  of  our  municipal  tribunals  may  be 
cited  a  hundred  years  hence,  to  prove  that  the 
spirit  of  religious  intolerance  lingered  even  unto 
this  day. 

If,  instead  of  giving  full  credence  to  the  col 
ored,  distorted  and  falsified  statements  of  the  an 
gry  Quaker  pamphlets,  we  have  recourse  to  the 
records  of  our  courts,  as  would  be  done  in  regard 
to  any  other  matter,  we  shall  find,  that  much  of 
what  has  been  called  persecution,  was  but  the 
punishment  of  gross  misconduct  committed  under 
fanatical  excitement.  Such  offences,  if  perpe 
trated  to-day,  would  be  as  promptly  punished  by 


128  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

our  correctional  police  as  by  that  of  our  fathers. 
It  is  true  that  some  of  the  penalties  imposed  by 
the  latter  may  seem,  according  to  our  ideas,  ex 
cessively  severe.  But  we  must  remember,  that 
the  penal  codes  of  all  Europe  were  then  far 
more  severe  than  at  present.  According  to  the 
scale  of  penal  inflictions  then  in  use,  our  fathers 
meant  to  apportion  no  sorer  retribution  than 
would  now  be  imposed  for  the  like  misdeeds. 

The  Quakers  were  punished,  in  general,  not 
as  religious  offenders,  not  as  heretics, — but  as 
civil  offenders,  transgressing  against  the  peace 
and  dignity  of  the  Commonwealth.  It  is  true, 
that,  according  to  the  records,  they  were  arraigned 
as  Quakers  :  but  this  was  because  the  class  of 
civil  offences  which  the  law  was  intending  to 
take  hold  of,  was  then  known  by  that  name.  If 
we  read  the  minutes  of  evidence,  we  shall  see 
the  stress  laid  upon  the  disorderly  behavior  of 
the  accused.  Good  Mr.  Norton,  in  his  doleful 
sermon,  entitled  "  The  Heart  of  New  England 
Rent  at  the  Blasphemies  of  the  present  Genera 
tion,"  strongly  disclaims  the  right  of  the  magis 
trate  to  interfere  with  Quakers,  or  any  other 
heretics,  who  were  of  quiet  and  peaceable 
deportment.  But  he  argues,  that  they  ought  to 
be  suppressed,  when  they  become  factious,  tur 
bulent  and  insurrectionary.  These  were  the 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  129 

views  of  our  fathers  :  and  it  is  believed  that  they 
are  the  views  of  all  sober,  humane  and  law- 
abiding  people,  at  this  present  time.  In  the 
application  of  these  principles,  the  Puritans  may 
possibly  have  erred  in  some  particular  cases, 
without  being  more  prone  to  error  than  mortals 
generally  are. 

Other  measures  failing  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
disturbances,  a  law  was  made  for  banishing 
such  as  were  convicted  thereof,  on  pain  of 
death  in  case  they  returned.  Some  may  be 
shocked  at  this,  as  well  as  at  the  extreme  com 
monness  of  capital  punishments  for  minor  offences 
throughout  the  civilized  world  in  that  sterner 
age.  But  they  who  condemn  them  for  resorting 
so  freely  to  this  dreadful  penalty  ought  to  con 
sider  that  this  country  was  not  then  provided 
with  prisons  fit  for  the  confinement  and  employ 
ment  of  convicts  for  life  or  long  terms  of  years. 
If  a  criminal  could  not  be  adequately  punished 
by  fines  and  personal  chastisement,  the  legislators 
knew  not  how  to  dispose  of  him  except  by  hang 
ing,  or  banishment  under  pain  of  hanging  in  case 
of  returning  to  the  jurisdiction. 

Under  this  statute  four  quakers  were  hanged 
for  so  returning.  Some  of  these  had  repeated 
the  offence.  The  court  felt  compelled  to  enforce 
the  law,  or  give  up  the  attempt  to  maintain  civil 


130  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

government.  Upon  the  execution  of  two  of  these 
unhappy  enthusiasts,  the  General  Court  printed 
a  declaration,  dated  the  eighteenth  of  October, 
1659,  explaining  the  grounds  of  their  proceed 
ings.  From  this  document  it  appears  evident, 
that  they  considered  the  sufferers  to  be  engaged 
in  seditious  and  treasonable  designs  to  overthrow 
the  government  of  the  country.  Be  it,  that  this 
was  a  mistake,  which  is  by  no  means  admitted, 
our  fathers  sincerely  thought  that  such  was  the 
fact ;  and  felt  constrained  to  resort  to  strong 
measures  for  their  own  security.  Remarking 
that  other  penalties  had  proved  to  be  "  too  weak 
a  defence  against  the  impetuous  fanatic  fury  "  of 
these  intruders,  they  say  that  they  were  "  neces 
sitated  to  endeavor  their  own  security,"  by 
enacting  a  law,  "  that  such  persons  should  be 
banished  on  pain  of  death,  according  to  the 
example  of  England  in  their  provision  against 
Jesuits."  They  contend  that  their  "  own  just 
and  necessary  defence  called  upon  them,  other 
means  failing,  to  offer  the  point  which  these  per 
sons  have  violently  and  willfully  rushed  upon, 
and  thereby  become  felones  de  se."  They  appeal 
to  the  repeated  reprieves  which  were  easily 
granted  to  some  of  the  offenders ;  which,  say 
they,  "  will  manifestly  evince  we  desire  their 
lives  absent,  rather  than  their  death  present." 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  131 

And  truly,  the  circumstances  are  calculated  to 
call  to  mind  the  characteristic  remark  of  Luther ; — 
"  He  that  bringeth  himself  into  needless  dangers, 
dieth  the  devil's  martyr."  Thus  poor  Mary 
Dyer,  having  been  sentenced  to  execution  for 
"  rebellious  sedition  and  and  obtruding  herself 
after  banishment  upon  pain  of  death,"  was 
reprieved  on  condition  that  she  speedily  departed 
and  did  not  return.  Return  she  did,  within  a 
few  months,  and  suffered  accordingly.  She  was 
the  last  who  suffered  under  that  law,  which  was 
suspended  soon  after  by  order  of  the  king  ;  as 
would  have  been  voluntarily  done  by  the  General 
Court  itself,  had  it  not  been  anticipated  by  the 
royal  rescript,  after  the  law  had  been  in  force 
about  three  years. * 

Among  other  instances  we  read  of  the  whip 
ping  of  two  Quaker  women  at  Salem.  Upon 
this,  our  hearts  are  ready  to  ache,  that  these  hap 
less  females  should  thus  suffer  merely  for  relig 
ion.  But  how  was  it  ?  Were  they  scourged 
merely  for  cherishing  Quaker  principles?  By 
no  means  : — but  for  appearing  in  the  churches  in 
open  day  wholly  divested  of  apparel.  The  poor 
misguided  creatures  professed  to  be  acting  pro 
phetically,  under  special  divine  inspiration,  as  a 

*  Hubbard's  History.     (Jh.  LXV. 


132  LIFE      OF     JOHN      WILSON. 

sign  of  the  naked  truth,  and  as  a  sign  of  the  na 
kedness  of  the  land.  It  would  be  hard  to  say  when 
gentle  castigation  was  ever  merited,  if  not  then  ! 
When  Roger  Williams  afterwards  reproached 
George  Fox  with  this  scandalous  procedure  on 
the  part  of  his  female  disciples,  Fox,  in  his  print 
ed  reply,  applauds  it  as  a  pious  and  admirable 
action,  and  raises  a  horrid  outcry  of  indignation 
against  the  persecuting  magistrates  who  punished 
them  for  it. 

The  Quakers,  in  their  way,  and  an  ugly  way 
it  was,  were  as  intolerant  as  possible.  Williams, 
who,  next  to  Penn,  was  the  greatest  benefactor 
they  ever  had,  received  the  most  thankless 
usage  at  their  hands,  and  his  old  age  was  em 
bittered  by  them.  He  held  public  debates  with 
them  at  Newport  and  Providence  ;  of  which  he 
published  an  account,  under  the  title,  "  George 
Fox  digged  out  of  his  Burrows  ;" — Burroughs 
being  the  name  of  one  of  Fox's  subalterns. 
Whoever  reads  this  book  is  ready  to  regard  it  as 
the  most  abusive  and  scurrilous  that  ever  was 
penned.  But  when  he  comes  to  read  the  reply 
by  Fox  and  Burnyeat,  entitled,  "  A  New  Eng 
land  Firebrand  Quenched,"  he  will  presently 
begin  to  think  that  Williams'  work  is  all  milky 
mildness  and  silky  softness. 

The    Quakers    sometimes  dealt   pretty  hard 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  133 


measure  to  one  another.  In  the  year  1694,  one 
of  the  followers  of  George  Keith  published  a 
tract  containing  the  following  clauses  ; — "  Since 
the  English  in  New  England  hanged  their 
countrymen  for  religion  is  thirty  six  years  : — 
since  at  Philadelphia,  some  did  little  less,  by 
taking  away  goods,  and  imprisoning  some,  and 
condemning  others  without  trial,  for  religious 
dissent,  is  three  years." 

But  it  is  a  painful  and  undesirable  task  to 
bring  back  to  remembrance  the  errors  of  those 
who  have  so  long  reposed  in  their  forgotten 
graves.  There  would  we  gladly  leave  them  to 
rest  in  oblivion, 

"  Nor  draw  their  frailties  from  their  dread  abode." 

We  wish  to  do  no  more  than  was  needful  to 
remove  the  unjust  aspersions  which  had  been 
cast  upon  our  fathers,  as  though  they  had  per 
secuted  the  most  meek  and  inoffensive  char 
acters,  for  no  other  cause  than  mere  difference 
of  opinion  on  disputable  points  in  religion.  We 
have  arrayed  facts  sufficient  to  show,  that  most 
of  what  is  called  their  persecution  was  but  the 
punishment  of  such  violations  of  public  order,  as 
must  ever  be  punished  so  long  as  the  public 
peace  is  to  be  secured  by  law.  We  have 
showed,  that  the  rest  of  their  persecution  nat- 
VOL.  n.  12 


134  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

urally  grew  out  of  these  irritating  cases  of  mis 
demeanor.  We  have  argued  that  whatever 
judicial  proceedings  of  our  forefathers  are  called 
intolerant,  were  either  dictated  by  the  law  of 
self-preservation ;  or  by  the  spirit  of  the  age, 
rather  than  by  the  temper  of  the  men. 

Our  fathers  were  the  first  to  emerge  from 
that  deep  and  wide-spread  pool  of  persecution 
for  conscience  sake,  under  which  the  world  had 
stagnated  during  ages  of  Popish  oppression. 
Nor  will  men  of  sense  be  astonished,  if,  at  their 
first  coming  forth  from  the  miry  brink,  they 
dripped  for  a  while  with  the  ooze  from  which 
they  were  escaping.  Soon  they  purged  them 
selves  from  these  last  remaining  impurities: 
and  became  the  spotless  champions  of  the  free 
dom  of  the  human  mind. 

And  here  we  rest  our  defence  of  that  noble 
race  of  men,  the  Puritans  ;  of  whom,  their  bitter 
enemy,  the  historian  Hume  was  compelled  to 
own,  "that  for  all  the  liberty  of  the  English 
constitution  that  nation  is  indebted  to  the  Puri 
tans." 

But  why  speak  we  of  defending  these  wor 
thies,  who  stand  impregnable,  at  a  lofty  height 
of  goodness  unassailable  by  their  weak  and 
dwarfish  detractors.  They  were  men,  the  blest 
consequences  of  whose  heroic  and  holy  exer- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  135 

tions  must  occupy  the  pen  of  history,  "  to  the 
last  syllable  of  recorded  time,"  and  whose  vir 
tues  must  be  resounded  as  with  angels'  trumpets 
to  the  ends  of  the  world.  Let  us  praise  the 
grace  of  God  in  them.  Be  it  ever  owned  as  one 
of  our  chief  debts  to  a  bounteous  Heaven,  that  it 
gave  us  this  godly  ancestry.  Whoever  shall 
dishonor  such  a  parentage,  may  well  expect  the 
anathema  of  the  Most  High,  to  which  all  the 
people  will  say,  Amen. 

The  topic  we  have  been  considering,  teaches 
us  to  set  a  high  estimate  upon  Christian  charity. 
There  is  no  virtue  in  which  even  good  men 
have  been  so  apt  to  be  wanting.  "  This  grace," 
says  Warburton,  "  regulates  and  perfects  all  the 
other  virtues ;  and  is,  itself,  in  no  want  of  a 
reformer."  It  is  this  which  draws  together  the 
bonds  of  union.  It  closes  up  the  breaches  of 
Zion,  and  joins  her  walls  in  impregnable 
strength.  It  teaches  men  to  "  love  alike,  though 
they  may  not  think  alike."  We  may  hope  that 
this  heavenly  temper  is  more  generally  spread 
ing  among  all  evangelical  Christians  at  the 
present  day.  May  the  past  ravages  of  the  spirit 
of  proscription  and  persecution  stimulate  the 
growth  of  this  divine  disposition  among  men, 
even  as  the  ashes  of  the  herbage  over  which  the 


136  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 


fire  has  passed  promotes  the  springing  of  a 
fairer  and  tenderer  growth. 

The  subject  which  has  been  before  us,  in 
spires  us  with  confidence  in  the  indestructible 
nature  of  truth.  No  force  can  keep  it  down. 
The  blasts  of  opposition  only  blow  each  spark  of 
it  into  a  flame.  Like  the  gold  of  Ophir,  the 
fiery  furnace  can  but  purge  out  its  alloy,  and 
prove  its  worth.  The  very  shreds  and  filings  of 
truth  are  precious.  It  is  the  treasure  of  eter 
nity,  and  the  currency  of  heaven.  It  is  the  light 
of  immortality,  and  the  breath  of  angels.  It  is 
the  sceptre  of  Jesus,  and  is  of  the  essence  of 
godhead.  How  vain  the  efforts  of  earth  and 
hell  to  suppress  it,  or  distort  it  into  shapes  of 
falsehood.  It  rises  again  in  its  original  beauty, 
and  defies  the  power  of  corruption.  It  must 
triumph  in  the  end. 

"  The  destined  hour  must  come, 
When  it  shall  blaze  with  sun-surpassing  splendor, 
And  the  dark  mists  of  prejudice  and  falsehood 
Fade  in  its  strong  effulgence." 

Meanwhile  let  us  venerate  our  fathers  for  the 
sacrifices  they  so  cheerfully  made  for  the  truth 
they  loved,  and  which  they  felt  in  their  hearts 
like  a  life  that  could  not  die.  To  permit  their 
sufferings  in  behalf  of  principle  to  be  forgotten, 
would  wrong  posterity,  which  needs  to  see  their 


LIFE      OF     JOHN      WILSON.  137 

example  and  the  reverence  it  inspires.  "  To  go 
on  the  forlorn  hope  of  truth,"  as  they  did,  "  is 
a  service  of  peril.  Who  will  undertake  it,  if  it 
be  not  also  a  service  of  honor  ?  " 

The  memory  of  the  Pilgrims  should  awaken 
our  gratitude  for  the  noble  legacy  of  liberty. 
Of  all  the  rich  heritage  they  have  left  us,  this  is 
the  chief  blessing.  They  learned  its  value  by 
what  it  cost  to  win  it.  And  how  are  we,  in 
these  times  of  peaceful  enjoyment  of  the  wealthy 
bequest, — how  are  we  to  estimate  its  worth,  ex 
cept  by  recurring  to  the  price  they  had  to  pay 
to  obtain  it.  Let  us  be  thankful  to  God  who 
conferred  it  upon  them,  and  through  them, 
transmitted  the  inestimable  boon  to  us.  An 
eloquent  writer  has  said  of  religious  liberty; — 
"  Human  agency  is  insufficient  to  extinguish  it. 
Oceans  may  overwhelm  it.  Mountains  may 
press  it  down.  But,  like  the  earth's  central 
fires,  its  own  violent  and  unconquerable  force 
will  heave  both  sea  and  land,  and  some  time  or 
other,  and  in  some  place  or  other,  the  volcano 
will  burst  forth,  and  blaze  to  heaven." 

To  the  young  men  and  young  women  of 
New  England  may  this  humble  vindication  of 
our  pilgrim  sires  not  prove  unacceptable  or  un 
availing.  May  they  never  feel  ashamed  of  that 
noble  stock  whence  they  are  sprung,  nor  ever 
12* 


138  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

prove  recreant  to  the  principles  and  faith  of 
their  ancestors.  May  they  emulate  the  virtues 
of  the  sainted  dead,  and  add  fresh  laurels  to 
their  urns,  and  cover  their  lineage  with  new 
honors.  May  they  be,  not  only  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  Pilgrims,  but  pilgrims  them 
selves  in  very  deed,  following  the  same  bright 
path  through  the  dark  and  dreary  wilds  of 
earth,  in  radiant  progress  to  a  glorious  home  in 
heaven. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  139 


CHAPTER    IV. 


The  Pequod  war.  Mr.  Wilson  goes  as  chaplain.  His  faith.  J.  Nor 
ton  made  his  colleague,  and  dies  soon  after.  Mr.  Wilson's  old 
age.  His  last  illness.  Parting  with  his  brethren.  Anticipations 
of  the  future  world.  Closing  scene.  His  funeral.  His  property 
disposed  of.  His  afflictions  in  life.  Repeatedly  burned  out. 
Death  of  his  eldest  son.  Death  of  his  wife  Elizabeth.  Death  of 
his  daughter,  Mrs.  Rogers.  Deaths  of  his  grandchildren.  His 
behavior  under  his  sorrows.  Answers  to  prayer.  John  Hull.  An 
undutiful  son.  Mr.  Bird  and  Dr.  Duke.  A  secret  Papist  admon 
ished.  Mr.  Adams' child.  Thomas  Venner.  A  troubler  of  Israel. 
Sickness  and  recovery  of  Mary  Wilson.  Severe  fall  and  remarka 
ble  recovery  of  John  Wilson,  Jr.  Edmund  Wilson  and  the  Italian 
Inquisitor.  Edmund's  escape  from  "the  snare  of  the  strange 
woman,"  and  his  father's  dream.  Mr.  Wilson's  manner  of  preach 
ing.  His  last  "Thursday  Lecture."  His  last  sermon.  The 
weekly  lectures  in  the  days  of  old.  Mr.  Wilson's  pastoral  quali 
ties.  His  pastoral  visits.  His  personal  appearance.  Admissions 
to  the  church.  Baptisms.  His  zeal  against  error,  tempered  with 
love  to  the  errorist.  His  popularity.  Muster  on  the  common. 
His  poetry.  Anagrams.  His  humility.  An  example  of  its  excess. 
Refusal  to  sit  for  his  portrait.  Cotton  Mather's  touches.  Con 
clusion. 

IN  the  midst  of  the  Antinomian  contest,  in 
which  he  bore  so  active  a  part,  Mr.  Wilson  was 
enlisted  in  another  whose  weapons  were  more 
carnal.  Those  were  days  in  which  it  was  said 
of  the  saints  ; — "  Let  the  high  praises  of  God  be 


140  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

in  their  mouth,  and  a  two-edged  sword  in  their 
hand  ;  to  execute  vengeance  upon  the  heathen, 
and  punishments  upon  the  people  ;  to  bind  their 
kings  with  chains,  and  their  nobles  with  fetters 
of  iron ;  to  execute  upon  them  the  judgments 
written."  When  the  expedition  was  sent  out 
against  the  Pequods,  which  was  "  a  just  and 
necessary  "  defensive  war,  if  ever  there  was  one, 
it  was  thought  as  indispensable  to  send  a  chap 
lain  to  pray  as  a  captain  to  fight.  So  the  min 
isters  set  apart  two  of  their  number ;  "  and  a  lot 
was  cast  between  them  in  a  solemn  public  invo 
cation  of  the  name  of  God."  The  chaplain's 
lot  fell  on  Mr.  Wilson,  of  whom  Johnson  says ; — 
"  Having  formerly  passed  through  perils  by  sea, 
perils  by  land,  and  perils  among  false  brethren, 
he  now  followed  the  war  purposely  to  sound  an 
alarm  before  the  Lord  with  his  silver  trumpet." 
He  did  not  fail,  on  this  occasion,  to  fight  the 
better  fight  of  faith;  for  dreadful  as  was  the 
savage  and  numerous  foe,  he  did  not  hesitate, 
before  his  departure,  to  profess  himself  "as 
fully  satisfied,  that  God  would  give  the  English 
a  victory  over  those  enemies,  as  if  he  had  seen 
the  victory  already  obtained."  The  event  ac 
corded  with  his  faith.  Another  instance  of  what 
was  called  his  "  particular  faith,"  occurred 
during  this  expedition.  A  Pequod,  in  his  canoe, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  141 

was  carrying  off  a  captive  English  maid. 
Though  passing  within  gun-shot  of  our  soldiers 
on  the  shore,  they  were  afraid  to  fire,  lest  they 
should  kill  the  prisoner.  Mr.  Wilson  told  them 
never  to  fear.  He  confidently  exclaimed  ; — "  God 
will  direct  the  bullet !  "  The  shot  was  sped 
accordingly,  and  killed  the  savage,  while  the 
captive  was  rescued  unharmed  and  untouched. 
The  result  of  this  war  is  sufficiently  known. 
The  few  Pequods  who  escaped,  and  who  became 
blended  with  other  tribes,  always  acknowledged 
that  the  blame  lay  with  themselves,  and  that 
the  English  were  a  just  and  righteous  nation. 

On  the  lamented  death  of  Mr.  Cotton  in 
1652,  the  church  was  much  troubled  to  find  a 
teaching  elder  to  fill  the  place  of  that  luminary, 
whose  extinction  had  left  them  in  darkness. 
Their  eyes  and  hearts  were  fixed  on  Mr.  Nor 
ton,  who  occupied  the  same  office  in  the  Ipswich 
church.  As  that  was  much  the  smaller  church, 
and  as  it  was  also  furnished  with  a  very  able 
pastor  in  Mr.  Rogers,  a  descendant  of  the  Mari 
an  martyr  of  Smithfield,  it  was  thought  that 
they  ought  to  relinquish  Mr.  Norton.  A  warm 
dispute  arose  between  the  respective  claimants. 
It  was  argued  that  Ipswich  ought  to  part  with 
her  teacher,  on  the  ground  of  the  gospel  pre 
cept; — "  He  that  hath  two  coats,  let  him  impart 


142  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

to  him  that  hath  none !  "  To  this  plea  one  of 
the  Ipswich  brethren  replied'; — "  Nay,  but  Bos 
ton  hath  one  coat  now !  "  meaning  the  pastor. 
Mr.  Wilson,  who  was  very  zealous  in  the  mat 
ter,  and  whose  humility  outran  even  his  zeal, 
exclaimed  ; — "  Who  ?  Me  !  I  am  nothing  !  " 
When  some  of  his  people  told  Mr.  Kogers,  that 
they  were  afraid  Mr.  Wilson  would  at  last  get 
Mr.  Norton  away  from  them  by  his  arguments 
or  entreaties,  or  both,  Mr.  Rogers  replied,  that 
he  was  "  more  afraid  of  his  faith  than  of  his 
arguments."  After  several  councils  had  been 
called,  and  after  four  years  of  contest  for  this 
prize,  the  governor  and  magistrates  interfered 
so  effectually  that  Mr.  Norton  was  installed  in 
Boston  on  the  twenty-third  of  July,  1656. 

After  the  decease  of  Mr.  Norton,  which  took 
place  in  1663,  seven  years  after  his  installation, 
Mr.  Wilson  was  left  alone  in  his  labors,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  seventy-six.  For  four  years 
he  bore  the  burden  of  all  that  charge  on  his 
enfeebled  shoulders  ;  and  yet  the  prosperity  of 
religion  was  not  lessened.  When  his  head  and 
hands  were  benumbed  with  the  frosts  of  age,  the 
vital  warmth  retreated  to  the  heart,  and  glowed 
intenser  there.  The  central  heat  of  the  chief 
grace,  charity,  burned  quenchless  to  the  last. 
Like  the  beloved  and  last  surviving  disciple,  in 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  143 

his  extreme  old  age  at  Ephesus,  this  venerable 
pastor  could  do  little  more  than  repeat  with 
tremulous  accents  the  fervent  exhortation ; — 
"  Little  children,  love  one  another  !  "  He  had 
a  strong-  presentiment,  that,  during  his  time,  no 
public  judgment  or  calamity  should  fall  upon 
New  England.  In  him  was  fulfilled  the  angelic 
benediction ; 

"  So  mayst  them  live,  till,  like  the  ripe  fruit,  thou 
Drop  into  thy  mother's  lap,  or  be  with  ease 
Gathered,  not  harshly  plucked ;  for  death  mature." 

His  infirmities  at  last  assumed  the  form  of  a 
sickness  which  long  confined  him.  Patient  and 
resigned  he  awaited  the  result,  desiring  to  return 
to  that  God  in  whose  errand  his  life  had  been 
spent.  "  Now  there  was  leaning  on  Jesus' 
bosom  one  of  his  disciples,  whom  Jesus  loved." 
Few  men  have  more  resembled  the  son  of 
Zebedee  in  personal  character  than  this  old  dis 
ciple. 

So  strong  was  the  confidence  felt  by  his 
friends  in  his  prayers  which  had  been  so  often 
answered,  and  in  the  power  of  his  blessings, 
that  the  principal  persons  in  the  country  came, 
some  from  a  distance,  bringing  their  children  to 
receive  the  benedictions  of  this  patriarch.  There 
was  a  sort  of  prophetic  tone  to  his  remarks.  As 


144          LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

the  curtain  which  hides  eternity  was  slowly 
withdrawn  to  give  him  a  passage  thither,  he 
seemed  to  catch  some  glimpses  which  had  less 
of  earth  than  of  heaven.  He  could  adopt  the 
lines  with  which  Edmund  Waller,  when  about 
fourscore  years  of  age,  ended  his  "  Divine 
Poems." 

"  The  soul's  dark  cottage,  battered  and  decayed, 

Lets  in  new  light  through  chinks  that  time  has  made ; 
Stronger  by  weakness,  wiser  men  become, 
As  they  draw  nearer  to  their  eternal  home  ; 
Leaving  the  old,  both  worlds  at  once  they  view, 
That  stand  upon  the  threshhold  of  the  new." 

At  the  same  time,  his  friends,  unable  to  spare 
him,  could  accord  with  the  verses  in  which 
Dryden  responded  to  the  aged  Waller  ; — 

"  Still  here  remain,  still  on  the  threshhold  stand, 
Still  at  this  distance  view  the  promised  land  ; 
That  thou  mayst  seem,  so  heavenly  is  thy  sense, 
Not  going  thither,  but  new  come  from  thence." 

In  his  last  illness,  Mr.  Wilson  took  solemn 
leave  of  the  ministers,  who  had  long  held  their 
weekly  meetings  at  his  hospitable  mansion,  and 
who  were  then  assembled  from  all  parts  to  their 
annual  convention  in  the  election  week.  They 
asked  him  what  he  thought  might  be  the  sins 
which  threatened  the  most  to  bring-  down  the 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  145 

displeasure  of  heaven  upon  the  land.  He 
replied,  that  he  had  long  feared  several  sins  ; 
but  especially  the  sin  of  Corah  ;  that  is,  lest  the 
people,  like  Corah,  and  his  company,  should 
rise  up  against  the  Lord's  ministers,  and  proudly 
contemn  the  counsels  and  ordinances  by  them 
dispensed  agreeable  to  the  word  of  Christ. 

When  his  brethren  had  retired,  he  engaged 
in  a  fervent  prayer,  in  which,  after  the  example 
of  the  dying  patriarchs,  he  pronounced  his  part 
ing  blessing  upon  each  of  his  relations  and 
attendants,  one  by  one.  This  was  done  in  a 
sort  of  prophetical  manner  :  and  it  was  observed, 
that  his  death -bed  aspirations  for  them  were 
remarkably  fulfilled  in  his  children,  and  his 
children's  children. 

He  then  began  to  comfort  himself  with  the 
sweet  thought,  that  he  should  ere  long  be  with 
his  old  friends,  who  were  gone  before  him.  He 
instanced  by  name  those  famous  divines  of  the 
University,  who  had  been  the  guides  of  his 
youth ;  his  colleagues,  who  had  shared  the  toils 
of  his  ministry  ;  and  his  consort,  with  such  of 
their  children  and  grandchildren  as  had  pre 
ceded  him  to  the  kingdom  of  God  ?  When 
some  that  stood  by  began  to  speak  of  his  great 
usefulness,  and  the  loss  they  must  suffer  in 
parting  with  him,  he  cried  out ; — "  Alas,  alas  ! 
VOL.  n.  13 


146  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

use  no  such  words  concerning  me  ;  for  I  have 
been  an  unprofitable  servant,  not  worthy  to  be 
called  a  servant  of  the  Lord  :  but  I  must  say, 
The  Lord  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner !  and  I 
must  say,  Let  thy  tender  mercies  come  unto 
me,  O  Lord ;  even  thy  salvation  according  to 
thy  word." 

The  evening  before  he  died,  his  daughter 
asked  after  his  health.  Lifting  his  hand,  he 
said  ; — "  Vanishing  things  !  vanishing  things  !  " 
He  then  prayed  most  affectionately  with  and  for 
his  friends.  After  this  he  reposed  in  quiet,  till 
he  gave  up  the  ghost  into  the  hands  of  his 
fellow-servants,  the  angels.  This  weary  pil 
grim  reached  the  heavenly  rest,  on  the  seventh 
day  of  August,  in  the  year  of  grace  1667,  in  the 
seventy-ninth  year  of  his  age.  Thus  went 
home  that  ripened  saint,  of  whom,  when  he  left 
the  land  of  his  birth,  an  eminent  personage 
said; — "New  England  shall  flourish,  free  from 
all  general  desolations,  as  long  as  that  good 
man  liveth  in  it." 

His  funeral  obsequies  were  attended  with 
mournful  solemnity.  A  lamentation  was  then 
pronounced  by  Rev.  Richard  Mather,  from  the 
appropriate  text ; — "  Your  fathers,  where  are 
they  ?  and  the  prophets,  do  they  live  forever  ?  " 
Years  afterward,  one  who  knew  him  exclaimed , 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  147 

on  a  great  public  occasion  ; — "  Blessed  Wilson  ! 
thy  body,  thy  dust,  remaineth  still  in  Bos 
ton.  But  where  is  thy  spirit?  where  is  thy 
zeal  ?  " 

His  movable  property,  at  his  death,  was 
valued  at  £419.  14s.  6d.  It  was  distributed  by 
his  will  chiefly  to  his  son  Rev.  John  Wilson,  jr. 
of  Medfield,  to  his  daughter  Mary,  wife  of  Rev. 
Samuel  Danforth,  of  Roxbury,  and  to  John 
Wilson,  a  minor  child  of  his  son  Edward, 
"Doctor  of  Physick,  and  late  of  London." 
Very  numerous  small  bequests  were  made,  as 
one  to  "  my  ancient  and  good  friend,  Mrs. 
Norton,  as  a  small  expression  of  my  affectionate 
love  to  her."  Similar  testimonials  were  left  to 
nine  or  ten  of  the  neighboring  ministers :  nor 
were  the  poor  of  his  church  forgotten. 

During  his  sojourn  in  this  wilderness,  Mr. 
Wilson  had  his  share  of  those  afflictions  by 
which  God  chastens  his  children.  He  was 
several  times  burnt  out  with  considerable  loss  of 
his  property,  to  which  he  cheerfully  submitted. 
He  was  once  returning  from  a  journey,  when  a 
person  met  him  on  the  road  with  the  intelli 
gence  ; — "  Sir,  I  have  sad  news  for  you :  while 
you  have  been  abroad,  your  house  is  burnt." 
To  which  the  homeless  man,  nothing  discon 
certed,  promptly  replied  ; — "  Blessed  be  God  ! 


148  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

He  has  burnt  this  house,  because  he  intends  to 
give  me  a  better."  He  probably  meant  in  these 
words  to  speak  figuratively,  of  a  heavenly  habi 
tation  :  but  it  was  granted  unto  him  according  to 
the  letter. 

Sore  bereavements  came  upon  him,  by  which 
he  was  broken  with  breach  upon  breach.  His 
eldest  son,  a  truly  pious  and  accomplished  gen 
tleman,  had  completed  his  education  by  study 
ing  first  in  Holland  and  then  in  Italy,  where  he 
took  his  degree  as  doctor  in  medicine.  He  then 
went  back  to  England  adorned  with  every 
quality  which  could  excite  the  fond  expectations 
of  his  friends.  Their  hopes  were  blasted.  He 
died  about  the  year  1658.  This  sorrow  has 
tened  the  death  of  his  mother,  ere  the  year 
came  round,  more  than  doubling  the  father's 
grief.  Still  deep  called  unto  deep  to  make  his 
afflictions  more  profound.  His  eldest  daughter, 
the  wife  of  the  excellent  and  reverend  Ezekiel 
Rogers,  the  founder  of  the  church  and  town  of 
Rowley,  soon  after  died,  as  also  her  only 
child.  The  widowed  and  heart-broken  father 
stood  by  her  grave  in  patient  sorrow.  The 
funeral  service  done,  he  took  the  spade  himself, 
and  threw  in  the  first  shovelful  of  dust  unto 
dust ; — "  In  token,"  as  he  said,  "  of  his  grounded 
and  joyful  hopes,  to  meet  her  again  in  the 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  149 

morning  of  the  resurrection  ;  and  of  his  willing 
ness  to  resign  her  into  the  hands  of  Him  who 
would  make  all  things  work  together  for  good." 
Mr.  Wilson  suffered  a  succession  of  griefs  in 
the  family  of  his  second  daughter,  the  wife  of 
•the  learned  and  reverend  Samuel  Danforth, 
minister  of  Roxbury.  When  this  worthy  couple 
were  affianced,  sometime  previous  to  their  mar 
riage,  which  took  place  in  1651,  Mr.  Cotton 
preached  a  betrothal  sermon,  according  to  an 
old  custom  of  New  England.  In  December, 
1659,  the  eldest  child  of  this  family  suddenly 
died.  Though  less  than  six  years  old,  this  little 
one  was  so  bright  an  example  of  piety,  that  she 
was  quoted  as  a  sort  of  commentary  on  that  ex 
pression  of  the  prophet ; — "  The  child  shall  die 
an  hundred  years  old."  The  affectionate  grand 
parent  vented  his  sorrows  and  consolations  in 
some  verses,  among  which  were  the  follow 
ing;— 

"  And  what  if  God  their  other  children  call, 
Second,  third,  fourth,  suppose  it  should  be  all?  " 

And  it  was  even  so.  Within  a  fortnight's  time, 
the  three  were  carried  away  by  the  croup, 
which  had  proved  so  fatal  to  the  first.  The  old 
man  wept  for  these  darlings,  to  whom  he  was 
attached  with  all  the  doating  fondness  that  often 
marks  that  relationship.  But  while  one  of  the 
13* 


150  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

bodies  was  lying  by  the  walls  of  the  church 
waiting  its  interment,  which  was  on  a  day  of 
public  thanksgiving,  the  aged  sufferer  preached 
"  a  most  savory  sermon,"  from  the  words  of  the 
bereaved  and  patient  Job  ; — "  The  Lord  hath 
given,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away  ;  blessed* 
be  the  name  of  the  Lord  !  "  It  is  indeed  easy 
to  bless  a  giving  God  : — but  ah,  what  grace  it 
needs  to  be  able  with  full  contentment  to  bless  a 
taking  God ! 

Other  children  were  afterwards  given  to  this 
desolated  family,  of  whom  some  lived,  and 
attained  to  distinction.  The  first  of  these  was 
so  weakly  an  infant,  that  no  one  thought  he 
could  live.  But  his  grandfather  would  have  the 
child  named  for  himself,  saying ; — "  Call  him 
John.  I  believe  in  God  he  shall  live,  and  be  a 
prophet  too,  and  do  God  service  in  his  genera 
tion."  That  child  grew  up  before  the  Lord; 
and,  for  near  half  a  century,  was  the  faithful 
minister  of  Dorchester. 

Mr.  Wilson,  in  his  numerous  bereavements, 
could  respond  to  the  sentiment  of  one  of  the 
Greek  fathers  ; — "Was  Job  miserable  when  he 
had  lost  all  that  God  had  given  him  ?  No,  he 
had  still  that  God  who  gave  him  all."  He  felt 
with  one  of  his  non-conforming  brethren  in 
England  at  that  time,  Rev.  James  Burdwood, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  151 

that  "  it  is  better  to  be  preserved  in  the  brine  of 
affliction,  than  to  rot  in  the  honey  of  prosperity." 
As  good  Mr.  Danforth  said  in  the  hearing  of 
his  father-in-law,  at  the  obsequies  of  the  very 
children  of  whom  we  have  been  speaking; — 
"  The  holy  fire  is  not  to  be  fetched  out  of  such 
a  flint  as  I  am,  without  smiting." 

Like  most  men  in  whom  the  habit  of  prayer 
is  become  intense  and  all-absorbing,  he  often 
felt  great  confidence  that  his  supplication  should 
be  granted.  The  Sadducees  of  our  times  coolly 
call  these  things,  when  the  event  coincides  with 
the  expectation,  "  singular  coincidences,"  "  re 
markably  accidental  !  "  But  when  we  consider 
that  the  people  of  God,  in  the  long  continuing 
Bible  times,  often  had  such  assurance  of  faith  as 
to  the  success  of  their  petitions  ;  and  when  we 
consider  that  the  Bible  promises  that  God  in  all 
ages  shall  be  the  hearer  of  effectual,  fervent  and 
believing  prayer  ;  we  ought  not  to  be  utterly 
faithless  as  to  such  matters.  It  is  true,  that 
great  caution  ought  to  be  exercised  in  regard  to 
a  "  particular  faith,"  so  deceitful  is  the  heart, 
and  so  prone  to  receive  its  own  wayward  impul 
ses  for  the  movements  and  suggestions  of  the 
Spirit  of  God.  Some  of  the  best  of  men,  like 
Cromwell's  chaplain,  and  the  eloquent  White- 
field,  have  found  themselves  grossly  mistaken  in 


152  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

some  strong  impressions  to  which  they  gave 
utterance.  But  let  us  learn  to  be  cautious, 
without  doubting  the  efficacy  of  prayer.  Let  us 
neither  believe  too  much  nor  too  little.  It  is 
a  wise  faith,  says  a  sound  divine,  "  which  is 
neither  over-froward,  nor  over-forward." 

"We  have  already  incidentally  touched  upon 
several  instances  of  Mr.  Wilson's  special  gift  of 
faith.  Many  others  are  recorded,  of  which 
some  were  only  such  prognostications  as  an 
aged  man  might  draw  from  long  observation  of 
the  ordinary  course  of  God's  providence.  Thus 
observing  a  young  man  exceedingly  kind  and 
duteous  to  a  poor  and  infirm  mother,  Mr. 
Wilson  said  ; — "  I  charge  you  to  take  notice  of 
what  I  say.  God  will  certainly  bless  that  young 
man  :  John  Hull  shall  grow  rich,  and  live  to  be 
a  useful  servant  of  God."  John  Hull  accord 
ingly  became  a  wealthy  and  most  beneficent 
man,  and  died  a  respected  magistrate.  At  an 
other  time  Mr.  Wilson  was  crossing  a  ferry.  A 
young  man  in  the  boat  spoke  very  insolently  to 
his  aged  father.  The  faithful  pastor,  greatly 
troubled,  rebuked  the  offender,  saying  ;— 
"Young  man,  I  advise  you  to  repent  of  your 
undutiful,  rebellious  carriage  towards  your 
father.  I  expect  else  to  hear,  that  God  has  cut 
you  off,  before  a  twelvemonth  come  to  an  end ! " 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  153 


And  sure  enough,  within  that  time,  this  un 
happy  breaker  of  the  fifth  commandment,  strag 
gling  off  to  the  southward,  was  taken  and  cut  to 
pieces  by  the  hostile  Pequods.  In  these  two 
cases,  the  man  of  God  doubtless  ventured  his 
predictions  by  reason  of  his  extensive  observa 
tion  of  the  fact,  that  filial  piety  is  usually 
rewarded,  and  filial  impiety  commonly  punished 
in  the  life  that  now  is. 

But  there  are  other  instances  recorded  of  his 
foresight  of  events,  which  are  not  so  easily 
accounted  for.  A  few  of  them  will  be  here 
rehearsed. 

When  Mr.  Wilson  was  living  at  Sudbury  in 
England,  he  and  other  worthy  ministers  were 
silenced  by  the  Bishop  of  Norwich,  as  has 
already  been  related.  The  informer  and  prose 
cutor  was  a  man  by  the  name  of  Bird,  who 
proved  to  be  "  a  bird  of  ill  omen."  This  person 
was  taken  sick,  and  attended  by  a  celebrated 
physician,  Dr.  Duke  of  Colchester.  The  phy 
sician  left  his  patient,  as  he  thought,  safely 
recovered :  and  calling  upon  Mr.  Wilson,  men 
tioned  the  occurrence.  "  Recovered!  "  exclaimed 
Mr.  Wilson,  "you  are  mistaken,  Mr.  Doctor: 
he  is  a  dead  man."  The  physician  confidently 
replied  ; — "  If  ever  I  recovered  a  sick  man  in 
my  life,  that  man  is  recovered."  But  Mr. 


154  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

Wilson  as  confidently  insisted ; — "  No,  Mr. 
Doctor  ;  he  is  a  dead  man.  He  shall  not  live. 
Mark  my  words  !  "  Dr.  Duke  gave  an  incred 
ulous  smile :  but  as  it  happened,  before  he 
departed,  the  tidings  came,  that  his  patient  was 
no  more.  We  may  imagine  his  emotions  at 
hearing  this  news  under  such  circumstances. 

During  his  ministry  at  Sudbury,  he  seems  to 
have  had  something  approaching  to  the  special 
gift  of  "  discerning  of  spirits."  He  was  ad 
ministering  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
when  a  man  presented  himself  as  a  communi 
cant,  who  for  some  time  had  been  absent,  and 
consorted  with  the  Papists.  Mr.  Wilson  pub 
licly  addressed  him  to  the  following  effect. 
"  Brother,  you  here  present  yourself,  as  if  you 
would  partake  in  the  holy  supper  of  the  Lord. 
You  cannot  be  ignorant  of  what  you  have  done 
in  withdrawing  yourself  from  our  communion, 
and  how  you  have  been  much  conversant  for  a 
considerable  while  with  those  whose  religion  is 
anti-christian.  Though  we  cannot  absolutely 
charge  you  with  it,  God,  who  is  the  Searcher  of 
hearts,  knows  whether  you  have  defiled  yourself 
with  their  worship  and  way.  If  it  be  so,  and 
you  have  not  repented  of  it,  by  offering  to  par 
take  at  this  time  in  the  Holy  Supper,  you  will 
eat  and  drink  your  own  damnation.  But  if  you 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  155 

are  clear,  and  have  nothing  of  this  wherewith 
to  charge  yourself,  which  you  yourself  know, 
then  may  you  receive."  Under  this  solemn 
adjuration,  the  man  ventured  to  take  the  sacra 
ment  :  but  soon  after,  goaded  by  the  stings  of 
a.  remorseful  conscience,  ended  his  life  as  Judas 
did. 

Mr.  Wilson  was  once  going  from  Hartford  to 
Weathersfield.  He  was  attended  by  a  Mr. 
Adams,  who  was  followed  by  the  news,  that  his 
daughter  was  taken  suddenly  and  dangerously 
ill.  Mr.  Wilson,  raising  his  eyes  to  heaven, 
began  to  wrestle  mightily  in  prayer  for  her  life. 
"  Lord,"  said  he  "  wilt  thou  now  take  away  thy 
servant's  child,  when  thou  seest  he  is  attending 
on  thy  poor  unworthy  servant  in  most  Christian 
kindness  ?  Oh,  do  it  not  !  "  Then  turning  to 
the  distressed  parent,  he  said  ; — "  Brother,  I 
trust  your  daughter  shall  live.  I  believe  in  God 
she  shall  recover  of  this  sickness."  It  was 
indeed  granted  to  him  according  to  his  faith. 
The  young  woman  was  remarkably  restored  to 
health,  and  lived  to  become  the  mother  of  a 
worthy  family. 

About  the  year  1655,  the  Lord  Protector 
Cromwell,  tried  to  induce  the  New  England 
settlers  to  migrate  to  the  West  Indies,  and  peo 
ple  the  islands  he  had  wrested  from  the  Span- 


156  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

iards.  In  this  scheme  he  enlisted  the  excellent 
Daniel  Gookin,  the  Major-General  of  Massachu 
setts  :  but  without  succeeding-.  There  was, 
however,  a  company  of  the  colonists  very  intent 
upon  the  project;  and  headed  by  a  frantic  en 
thusiast,  Thomas  Venner,  a  cooper  of  Salem. 
They  called  the  chief  magistrates  and  ministers 
to  a  sort  of  synod,  to  give  advice  about  the  un 
dertaking.  They  counseled  the  company,  with 
very  weighty  reasons  to  abandon  the  plan. 
Venner,  however,  with  some  of  his  crew,  stood 
up  and  declared,  that,  notwithstanding  this 
advice,  they  were  certain  that  they  were  called 
of  God  to  remove.  Mr.  Wilson  arose,  and 
sternly  replied  ; — "  Aye  !  do  you  come  to  ask 
counsel  in  so  weighty  a  matter  as  this,  and  to 
seek  help  from  an  ordinance  of  God  in  respect 
to  it  ?  And  yet  were  aforehand  resolved,  that 
you  will  go  on  ?  Well,  you  may  go,  if  you 
will :  but  you  shall  not  prosper.  What  !  do 
you  make  a  mock  of  God's  ordinance  ?  "  They 
went  on ;  and  the  enterprise  resulted  in  a  com 
plete  failure.  Venner,  who  had  spent  some 
twenty  years  in  New  England,  betook  himself 
to  London.  He  was  one  of  those  confused,  but 
fiery  fanatics,  whom  Carlyle  oddly  describes  as 
a  sooty  kitchen-chimney  all  in  a  roaring  blaze, 
fumy  and  flamy.  Here  he  engaged  with  some 


LIFE      OF     JOHN     WILSON.  157 

other  frantic  fifth-monarchy-men,  in  a  plot  to 
blow  up  Cromwell  with  gunpowder  in  White 
hall.  But  Oliver's  vigilant  police  exploded  the 
plot.  For  leading  an  insurrection  for  the  same 
cause  soon  after  the  restoration  of  Charles  II., 
poor  Venner  was  hanged  and  quartered  January 
the  nineteenth,  1661.  It  required,  indeed,  but 
little  of  the  prophetic  spirit  to  foresee  that  such 
a  person  would  come  to  an  untimely  and  miser 
able  end. 

In  Mr.  Wilson's  view,  it  augured  ill  to  any 
one,  to  be  an  opposer  of  ecclesiastical  order  and 
discipline.  It  boded  no  good.  He  was  once  on 
a  council  called  to  settle  some  differences  in  a 
church.  He  observed  a  man  who  was  extremely 
perverse,  and  a  sore  troubler  of  the  peace  of  the 
church.  Upon  this  Mr.  Wilson  expressed  to 
the  council  his  confidence,  "  that  the  jealousy 
of  God  would  set  a  mark  upon  that  man,  and 
that  the  ordinary  death  of  men  should  not  befall 
him."  Nor  was  it  long  after,  that  the  hapless 
mortal  fell  into  the  power  of  the  Indians,  and 
expired  under  the  hands  of  his  savage  tor 
mentors. 

In  some  of  the  affairs  of  his  own  family,  Mr. 
Wilson's  faith  was  powerfully  exercised. 

His  daughter  Mary  appears  to  have  been  his 
youngest  child,  and  the  only  one  of  his  children 
VOL.  n.  14 


153  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 


born  in  this  country.  He  took  great  delight  in 
her,  and  often  called  her  "  his  New  England 
token."  She  was  seized  with  a  malignant 
fever,  which  brought  her  so  low,  that  every  one 
despaired  of  her  life,  except  her  father.  He 
summoned  several  ministers,  and  other  Christian 
friends,  to  keep  a  sort  of  household  fast-day,  to 
pray  for  her  life  and  soul.  While  listening  to 
the  prayers  of  Mr.  Cotton  on  this  occasion,  he 
found  his  hopes  raised  to  such  a  pitch,  that  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  declare  ; — "  While  I  heard 
Mr.  Cotton  at  prayer,  I  was  confident  the  child 
should  live  !  "  And  live  she  did,  to  a  good  age, 
eminent  for  her  piety,  and  the  mother  of  a 
numerous  and  distinguished  family.  She  became 
the  wife  of  Rev.  Samuel  Danforth,  the  faithful 
pastor  of  Roxbury. 

Mr.  Wilson's  younger  son,  when  he  was  a 
child,  fell  headlong,  from  a  loft  four  stories 
high,  into  the  street.  He  was  taken  up  for 
dead,  so  battered  and  gored  by  his  fall  as  to 
strike  the  beholders  with  horror.  But  the  fath 
er's  importunate  prayers  were  wonderfully  an 
swered  in  the  recovery  of  his  child  to  life  and 
sense.  He  too,  having  taken  a  new  lease  of  his 
clay  cottage,  remained  its  tenant  to  a  good  old 
age  :  and  finally  departed  from  it  at  Medfield, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  159 

• 

where  he  had  been  for  forty  years,  the  useful 
and  honored  pastor. 

The  elder  son,  Edmund,  traveled  in  Italy, 
with  a  view  to  perfect  himself  in  the  study  of 
medicine  ;  his  chosen  calling,  which  was  then 
cultivated  with  greater  success  in  that  country 
than  anywhere  else.  While  there,  he  was  in 
continual  peril  from  the  popish  Inquisition.  The 
constant  prayers  of  the  distressed  father  were 
answered  by  a  signal  preservation.  The  young 
gentleman  was  seized  by  that  most  unhallowed 
"  Holy  Office."  While  he  was  under  examina 
tion,  a  friend  of  the  Chief  Inquisitor  suddenly 
arrived.  Not  having  met  this  friend  for  many 
years,  the  Inquisitor  was  put  into  such  good 
humor,  as  to  invite  his  prisoner  to  dine  with 
him.  At  the  table  they  became  very  sociable. 
The  Inquisitor  here  astonished  the  young  Mr. 
Wilson,  by  calling  him  by  his  true  name, 
instead  of  that  which  he  had  assumed  for 
greater  safety  during  his  travels.  The  formi 
dable  man  also  showed  himself  well  acquainted 
with  the  character  of  the  father,  and  with  the 
zeal  and  industry  by  which  he  served  the  here 
tics  of  New  England.  In  this  country,  we 
know  not  what  espionage  is. 

Released  from  this  peril,  Edmund  Wilson 
was  delivered  from  another  of  a  different  and 


160  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 


more  formidable  kind,  and  with  a  more  noticea 
ble  interference  of  his  faithful  father's  prayers. 
We  are  about  to  relate  an  event  which  is  extra 
ordinary  and  right  marvelous  :  but  which  no 
studious,  or  philosophical,  or  devout  mind  will 
pronounce  to  be  incredible  in  itself.  While  the 
young  man  was  traveling  in  Italy,  the  anxious 
father  dreamed  that  he  was  himself  transported 
into  that  country,  where  he  saw  a  fair  tempter  in 
his  son's  apartment,  striving  with  a  thousand 
blandishments  to  lure  him  from  the  path  of  vir 
tue.  Upon  this  the  father  was  overheard  by  a 
person  who  occupied  the  same  couch,  making 
prayers  to  God  full  of  agony,  and  then  vehe 
mently  warning  his  tempted  son  to  beware. 
And  now  for  the  "  singular  coincidence,"  as 
some  will  term  it.  A  considerable  time  after 
wards,  the  younger  Mr.  Wilson  writes  to  his 
father,  that,  on  a  certain  night,  which  was  found 
to  have  been  the  same  with  that  of  the  dream, 
he  was  situated  even  as  he  appeared  to  be  in  his 
parent's  vision  ;  and  that  his  chastity  would 
have  been  overcome  by  those  caresses,  had  he 
not  been  suddenly  and  powerfully  impressed 
with  a  remembrance  of  his  father's  prayers  over 
him,  and  the  warnings  he  had  so  often  given. 
It  was  this  that  broke  the  snare  of  the  fowler, 
and  enabled  him,  like  the  youthful  Joseph  in 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  161 

Egypt,  to  avoid  the  pit,  from  which  "  whoso 
pleaseth  God  shall  escape,"  but  "  he  that  13 
abhorred  of  the  Lord  shall  fall  therein." 

It  is  a  natural  transition,  to  pass  from  Mr. 
Wilson's  praying-  to  his  preaching.  During  his 
ministry  in  England,  he  had  been  much  ad 
mired  as  an  argumentative  and  logical  preacher. 
But  when  he  came  to  Boston,  and  was  associ 
ated  as  pastor  with  such  famous  teachers  as 
Cotton  and  Norton,  he  restricted  himself  chiefly 
to  exhorting  and  admonishing  the  flock.  He 
usually  spoke  in  the  later  services,  taking  the 
same  text  which  his  colleague  had  previously 
handled  in  a  doctrinal  manner.  He  strove  to 
put  an  edge  upon  the  truth  which  had  been  de 
livered,  and  drive  it  home  to  the  heart.  Such 
was  the  pastoral  unction  with  which  he  spake, 
that  the  celebrated  Mr.  Shepard  would  say  ; — 
"  Methinks  I  hear  an  apostle,  when  I  hear  this 
man."  Th§  last  time  he  preached  the  Boston 
Thursday  lecture,  which  was  then  a  great  occa 
sion,  he  was  obliged  to  take  the  place  of  a 
preacher  who  had  disappointed  them.  It  was 
on  the  sixteenth  of  November,  1665.  Mr.  Wil 
son  spoke  extemporaneously  on  a  text  which 
had  caught  his  attention  in  the  chapter,  Jere 
miah  29,  read  at  morning  prayer  in  his  family. 
The  words  were  these  ; — "  For  thus  saith  the 
14* 


162  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel,  let  not  your 
prophets,  and  your  diviners,  that  be  in  the  midst 
of  you,  deceive  you  ;  neither  hearken  to  your 
dreams  which  ye  cause  to  be  dreamed."  This 
discourse  was  taken  in  short  hand,  and  printed 
about  twelve  years  after  his  death.  It  is  a  most 
pathetic  warning  against  the  dreamers  of  his 
day,  to  wit,  the  Quakers,  who  were  then  caus 
ing  much  disturbance.  Every  line  seems  trem 
ulous  with  the  anxieties  of  the  shepherd  for  his 
flock,  while  the  howling  of  the  wolves  is  rend 
ing  his  ears.  "  Go  not  after  these  enthusiasts," 
was  his  monitory  cry,  "  for,  whatever  they  may 
pretend,  they  will  rob  you  of  your  ordinances, 
rob  you  of  your  souls,  rob  you  of  your  God." 

The  last  time  Mr.  Wilson  spoke  in  the  pul 
pit,  was  in  that  of  Mr.  Danforth,  his  son-in-law, 
at  the  weekly  lecture  in  Roxbury.  His  text  was 
gathered  from  the  beginnings  and  endings  of  the 
last  five  Psalms,  sometimes  called,  from  this 
peculiarity,  the  Hallelujah  Psalms.  Having 
read  them  with  great  animation  and  spirit,  he 
exclaimed ; — "  If  I  were  sure  this  were  to  be 
the  last  sermon  that  ever  I  should  preach,  and 
these  the  last  words  that  ever  I  should  speak, 
yet  I  would  still  say,  Hallelujah,  hallelujah, 
praise  ye  the  Lord  !  "  With  him  it  was  but  a 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  163 

natural  transition  from  the  Alleluias  of  earth  to 
those  of  heaven. 

Speaking  of  these  weekly  lectures,  it  may  be 
well  to  mention,  that  the  ministers  with  many  of 
their  people,  attended  not  only  their  own,  but 
those  in  the  neighboring1  towns,  which,  for  this 
reason,  were  held  on  different  days  of  the  week, 
either  weekly,  semi-monthly,  or  monthly,  as  the 
case  might  be.  They  were  occasions  of  great 
resort.  The  diaries  of  Winthrop,  Sewall,  and 
other  distinguished  magistrates,  make  constant 
allusions  to  them.  It  was  a  godly  sight,  to  see 
large  companies  of  Christians,  with  their  pastors 
at  their  head,  nocking  to  the  lecture  in  the  neigh 
bor-town,  and  communing  of  Christ  by  the  way, 
till  their  hearts  burned  within  them.  Till  the 
infirmities  of  old  age  prevented,  Mr.  Wilson  de 
lighted  to  attend  this  duty,  through  storm  or 
shine,  with  unweariable  constancy.  He  feared 
not  the  unventilated  and  unwarmed  churches. 
One  of  his  brethren  said,  in  some  home -spun 
elegiacs,  containing  more  truth  than  poetry, 

"  Christ's  word,  it  was  his  life  ;  Christ's  church  his  care : 
And  so  great  with  him  his  least  brethren  were, 
Nor  heat,  nor  cold,  not  rain,  or  frost,  or  snow, 
Could  hinder,  but  he'd  to  their  lectures  go." 

The  fathers  of  New  England  manifested  an  in 
comparable  zeal  in  the  duties  of  private  and 


164  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

public  devotion,  family  religion  and  govern 
ment,  and  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath.  Shall 
that  "  golden  age"  ever  return  ?  "  Oh  Lord 
God,  thou  knowest !  " 

After  what  has  been  incidentally  said,  it  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  speak  of  Mr.  Wilson's 
pastoral  qualities.  In  him  was  verified  the 
beautiful  similitude  of  the  fond  and  faithful 
shepherd,  watching,  defending,  guiding  and 
feeding  his  flock ;  a  flock  which  knew  his 
voice,  loved  his  person,  and  followed  his  lead 
ing  to  "the  pastures  of  tender  grass"  and  to 
"  the  waters  of  quietness."  *  When  "  grievous 
wolves"  drew  nigh,  he  failed  not  to  assail  them 
with  the  utmost  boldness  and  vigor,  assisted  by 
his  sagacious  watch-dogs,  the  godly  magis 
trates.  As  a  pastor,  he  knew  that  he  had  a 
special  charge  from  the  Great  Shepherd  to 
"  feed  his  lambs,"  which  are  in  truth  "  the  hope 
of  the  flock."  He  "gathered  them  with  his 
arm,  and  carried  them  in  his  bosom."  He 
strenuously  insisted,  that  Christ's  own  mark 
should  be  put  upon  them,  the  sacred  seal  of 
baptism  :  and  contended  earnestly  for  their  cov 
enant-rights,  and  especially  that  they  should  be 

*  Psalm  23 :  2,  marginal  readings. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  165 

"  nourished  up  in  the  words  of  faith  and  of  good 
doctrine." 

He  cheerfully,  and  not  ungraciously,  stooped 
to  the  humblest  means  of  rendering  himself  ser 
viceable  to  the  souls  of  men.  And  when,  in  his 
old  age,  the  failure  of  his  voice  cut  him  off  from 
public  ministrations  in  his  great  congregation, 
he  spent  the  last  remainders  of  his  strength  in 
visiting  his  people  from  house  to  house.  He 
still  put  to  good  use  his  eminent  powers  of  con 
versation.  To  many  he  sent,  as  need  required, 
warnings  or  consolations,  by  letters  and  copies 
of  verses.  To  the  last  of  his  life,  he  never  abated 

"  His  care  to  guide  his  flock,  and  feed  his  lambs, 

By  words,  works,  prayers,  psalms,  alms  and  anagrams." 

There  was  nothing  imposing  in  his  personal 
appearance.  "  His  bodily  presence  was  weak." 
Johnson  of  Woburn,  who  knew  him  well  and 
greatly  revered  him,  speaks  of  him  in  this  par 
ticular  as  "  a  weak,  sorry  man,"  and  casually 
alludes  to  his  "thick  utterance."  But  these 
outward  disadvantages  were  so  compensated  by 
spiritual  succors,  that  his  usefulness  was  not 
diminished.  The  grace  of  God  often  and  won 
derfully  renders  such  slender  reeds  the  firm  and 
sufficient  supports  of  his  eternal  temple. 

During  his  ministry  of  thirty-seven  years  in 


166  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

Boston,  there  were  added  to  his  church  four 
hundred  and  ninety-nine  males,  and  five  hun 
dred  and  forty-eight  females.  The  total  of  one 
thousand  and  forty-seven  gives  an  average  of 
nearly  thirty  annual  admissions  for  the  whole 
period  of  his  ministry.  Taking  into  considera 
tion  his  labors  in  the  gospel  for  near  twenty 
years  in  his  native  country,  of  which  we  only 
know  that  they  were  eminently  successful  in 
winning  souls  to  Christ,  we  must  regard  him  as 
a  servant  whom  his  Lord  delighted  to  honor. 
We  doubt  not  that  he  shines  in  the  firmament  of 
glory,  as  one  who,  by  the  grace  of  God,  "  turned 
many  to  righteousness." 

The  number  of  children  baptized  by  him 
during  his  pastorship  in  Boston  was,  of  males, 
nine  hundred  and  thirty-one  ;  and  of  females 
eight  hundred  and  twenty-two.  The  total  ot 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty-three, 
gives  an  annual  average  of  nearly  fifty,  thus 
enfolded  in  the  embrace  of  the  church,  and 
cherished  on  her  bosom.  Of  these,  two-fifths, 
probably,  were  soon  laid  to  sleep  in  their  grass- 
covered  cradles,  and  "went  unto  Jesus"  in  their 
infancy. 

We  have  already  alluded  to  his  extreme  gen 
erosity,  ever  emptying  his  purse  to  relieve  the 
needy.  Though  this  Boanerges  was  a  son  of 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  167 

thunder,  ready  to  flash  fire  from  heaven  upon 
the  heads  of  gross  errorists  and  seducers  of  the 
people,  he  had  withal  a  heart  of  melting  pity 
when  he  saw  them  struck  down  to  the  ground 
by  the  electric  stroke.  He  testified  with  a 
dauntless  zeal  against  all  offences.  Like  the 
beloved  apostle  whose  name  he  bore,  he  showed 
no  quarter  to  false  teachers.  He  could  say ; — 
"  If  there  come  any  unto  you,  and  bring  not  this 
doctrine,  receive  him  not  into  your  house,  neither 
bid  him  God  speed."  And  yet,  like  that  same 
apostle,  he  had  an  overflowing  tenderness  of 
heart,  full  of  love  and  endearment.  "  When 
malefactors  had  been  openly  scourged  upon  the 
just  sentence  of  authority,  he  would  presently 
send  for  them  to  his  house  :  and  having  first  ex 
pressed  his  bounty  to  them,  he  would  then 
bestow  upon  them  such  gracious  admonitions 
and  exhortations,  as  made  them  to  become, 
instead  of  desperate,  remarkably  penitent."  It 
may  be  questioned  whether  the  boasted  peniten 
tiary  system  of  our  times  is  any  very  marked 
improvement  upon  his. 

He  is  a  proof  of  the  mistake  of  those,  who 
take  their  ideas  wholly  from  Dr.  South,  and 
king  Charles'  cavalier  preachers.  They  look 
upon  an  ancient  Puritan  as  resembling  one  of 
the  old-fashioned  box-stoves  we  used  to  have 


168  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

in  our  churches  some  twenty  years  ago,  with  its 
stiff  plates,  its  sharp  angles,  its  grim  and  gloomy 
complexion,  looking  as  if  devoid  of  feeling  itself, 
but  ready  to  blister  you,  if  you  so  much  as  touch 
it  with  your  finger.  Such  notions  of  the  Puri 
tans  may  well  be  dissipated  by  one  little  inci 
dent.  Mr.  Wilson  was  once  looking  at  a  great 
muster  of  soldiers  on  the  common.  A  gentle 
man  said  to  him  ; — "  Sir,  I  will  tell  you  a  great 
thing  :  here  is  a  mighty  body  of  people,  and 
there  is  not  seven  of  them  all  but  what  loves 
Mr.  Wilson."  The  good  man  pleasantly  re 
plied  ; — "  Sir,  I  will  tell  you  as  good  a  thing  as 
that :  here  is  a  mighty  body  of  people,  and 
there  is  not  so  much  as  one  of  them,  but  what 
Mr.  Wilson  loves."  Surely  the  secret  of  being 
loved,  is  to  be  loving  ourselves. 

For  hospitality  he  was  renowned.  His  house 
was  the  stranger's  home. 

No  less  was  he  famed  for  his  poetic  gift, 
which  the  taste  of  his  times  held  in  high  esti 
mation.  He  was  continually  exercising  this 
faculty  ;  sending  his  effusions  in  all  directions, 
especially  for  the  consolation  of  mourners.  His 
verses  were  carried,  like  the  handkerchiefs  from 
Paul,  for  the  healing  of  wounded  souls.  His  fer 
tile  fancy  could  see  an  allegory  in  every  event. 
In  the  year  1626,  he  published  some  verses  at 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  169 

London,  upon  the  famous  deliverances  of  the 
English  nation.  They  were  reprinted  by  his 
son  at  Boston,  in  1680  :  but  no  copy  of  them  is 
known  to  be  in  existence.  Though  Poesy  may 
not  mourn  the  loss,  Piety  may  regard  the  priva 
tion  with  regret. 

Another  fancy  which  Mr.  Wilson  indulged 
was  the  making  of  anagrams  on  the  names  of 
all  his  friends  and  acquaintance. ^  He  made 
these  "  difficult  trifles"  both  numerously  and 
nimbly.  And  if  they  were  not  often  ingenious 
or  exact,  they  were  always  instructive.  If  he 
could  not  readily  fetch  good  matter  from  some 
untractable  name,  he  would  force  it,  rather  than 
lose  the  moral.  The  scion  was  often  more  fruit- 


*  An  anagram  is  such  a  transposition  of  the  letters  which  compose 
a  person's  name,  as  to  form  some  significant  word  or  phrase.  Thus 
Mr.  Wilson,  hearing  Increase  Mather,  then  a  young  man,  preach 
upon  the  glory  of  Christ,  made  on  the  spot  an  anagram  of  his  name 
in  Latin,  Crescentius Matherus,  which  he  turned  into  "En,  Christus 
merces  tua," — "  Lo  !  Christ  is  thy  reward."  A  nearly  perfect  ana 
gram,  and  quite  characteristic  of  the  man,  was  made  on  the  name 
John  Willson,  often  so  spelled ;— "  Wish  no  one  ill."  On  his  hearse 
was  the  following,  which  shows  the  taste  of  the  limes,  though  Cot 
ton  Mather  tells  us,  that  "some  thought  the  Muses  looked  very 
much  dissatisfied"  to  see  them  there. 

"  JOHN  WILSON. 

Anagram. 
John  Wilson. 

Oh  !  change  it  not ;  no  sweeter  name  or  thing, 
Throughout  the  world,  within  our  ears  shall  ring !  " 
VOL.    II.       15 


170  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 

ful  than  the  stock  on  which  it  was  grafted.  The 
best  anagram  made  upon  his  own  name  was  by 
Rev.  Nathaniel  Ward  of  Ipswich,  alias  Theo 
dore  de  la  Guard,  alias  "  The  Simple  Cobbler  of 
Agawam."  This  queer  writer,  alluding  to  the 
generous  and  unbounded  hospitality  of  the  Bos 
ton  pastor,  said  of  him  ; — "  The  anagram  of 
JOHN  WILSON  is,  I  PRAY  YOU,  COME  IN,  YOU  ARE 

HEARTILY    WELCOME  !  " 

This  good  man's  humility  was  the  preserva 
tive  of  his  graces.  It  was  a  fitting  casket  for 
those  jewels,  a  casket  as  rare  and  precious  as 
any  thing  it  contained.  Sometimes,  indeed,  his 
unfeigned  modesty  was  excessive.  He  had  once 
promised  to  preach  for  a  neighboring  minister  : 
but  afterwards  came  in  sufficient  good  season  to 
excuse  himself.  "  Sir,"  said  he,  "  I  told  you 
that  I  would  preach  for  you,  but  it  was  rashly 
done  of,  me  ;  I  have  on  my  knees  begged  the 
pardon  of  it  from  the  Lord,  that  I  should  offer 
thus  to  deprive  his  people  of  your  labors,  which 
are  so  much  better  than  any  of  mine  can  be. 
Wherefore,  Sir,  I  now  come  seasonable  to  tell 
you,  that  I  shall  fail  you."  No  persuasion 
could  induce  him  to  change  this  last  purpose  of 
his  excessive  humility.  He  may  be  the  more 
easily  pardoned  for  this  fault,  considering  that  it 
is  so  rarely  committed. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON.  171 

From  the  same  cause,  he  would  never  suffer 
his  portrait  to  be  taken.  Though  often  and 
urgently  importuned  by  his  friends,  their  en 
treaties  on  this  point  were  unavailing.  He 
would  still  reply  ; — "  What  !  such  a  poor  vile 
creature  as  I  am  !  shall  my  picture  be  drawn  ? 
I  say,  No;  it  never  shall."  His  honored  kins 
man,  Edward  Rawson,  long  the  secretary  of  the 
Colony,  once  introduced  the  artist  with  all  his 
apparatus  ;  but  he  could  neither  be  surprised 
nor  supplicated  into  yielding  his  consent.  There 
is,  it  is  true,  a  portrait  of  him,  most  venerable  to 
behold,  in  the  gallery  of  the  Massachusetts  His 
torical  Society.  But  it  was  probably  taken  after 
his  decease,  as  is  often  done.  It  has  the  rigid 
and  cadaverous  look,  which,  in  such  cases,  the 
best  skill  of  the  limner  cannot  wholly  avoid. 

Cotton  Mather,  however,  to  whom  we  are 
greatly  indebted  for  the  materials  wrought  into 
this  sketch,  has  well  delineated  Mr.  Wilson's 
character,  the  features  of  which  are  more  impor 
tant  than  those  of  his  countenance.  His  words 
may  suitably  close  this  imperfect  delineation  of 
an  admirable  man.  "  If  the  picture  of  this 
good,  and  therein  great,  man,  were  to  be  exactly 
given,  great  zeal,  with  great  love,  would  be  the 
two  principal  strokes,  that,  joined  with  ortho 
doxy,  should  make  up  his  portraiture." 


172  LIFE      OF      JOHN      WILSON. 


And  now  we  drop  the  curtain  over  the  acts 
and  scenes  in  the  life  of  this  worthy.  When  the 
curtains  of  eternity  shall  be  drawn  aside,  and 
the  heavens  rolled  away  as  a  scroll,  at  the  sig 
nal  of  the  last  trumpet,  in  what  blessedness 
shall  we  see  him,  robed  in  righteousness, 
crowned  with  light,  and  throned  in  glory  for- 
evermore ! 


LIFE   OF  JOHN  NORTON 


15* 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  NORTON. 


CHAPTER    I. 

Preliminary  Remarks.  Birth  of  John  Norton.  Education.  Peter- 
House,  Cambridge.  Romish  Priest.  Teacher  and  curate  at  Storford. 
Conversion.  Becomes  a  zealous  Puritan.  Church  Reform.  Mr. 
Norton  declines  a  benefice  and  a  fellowship.  Becomes  a  Chaplain. 
Marries.  Resolves  to  repair  to  America.  With  T.  Shepard  at 
Yarmouth.  Adventure  with  Pursuivant.  Embarkation.  Perilous 
Storm.  Driven  back  to  Yarmouth.  Mr.  Norton  resumes  his  voy 
age  next  year.  Sails  for  Plymouth  with  Gov.  Winslow.  Another 
terrible  Storm.  Winter  at  Plymouth.  Removal  to  Boston.  Debate 
with  French  Friar.  Mr.  Norton's  scholastic  learning.  John  Cot 
ton  on  the  Schoolmen.  Synod  of  1637.  Mr.  Norton  ordained  at 
Ipswich.  New  England  Prayer-meetings.  Giles  Firmin's  account. 
Morality  of  the  Colony.  N.  Ward's  testimony.  New  England's 
first  Fruits.  Sir  James  Mackintosh.  Reply  to  Apollonius.  Horn- 
beck.  Fuller.  Fraternal  Reproof.  Letter  to  Dury.  Union  of 
Sects.  Evilsof  division.  New  England  divines  the  true  "  Reformed 
Catholics."  Election  Sermons.  Synod  of  1646.  Boston  Church 
refuses  attendance.  Persuaded  by  Mr.  Norton.  Cambridge  Plat 
form.  Richard  Baxter.  Mr.  Pyncheon's  heretical  book.  Confuted 
by  Mr.  Norton.  "  Orthodox  Evangelist."  Scheme  of  Doctrine. 
Political  influence  of  Calvinism.  Macaulay.  Bancroft.  The  ben 
efits  conferred  by  Calvinism  in  New  England. 

THERE  are  some  dark  lanterns,  which  burn, 
but  shine  not :  men  of  illuminated  minds,  who 
yet  shed  no  light  upon  the  minds  of  others.  And 


176         LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON 


some  there  are,  like  an  ice-block  glistening  in  the 
moon-beams,  which  shines  indeed,  but  with  the 
cold  and  cheerless  rays  of  far-fetched  and  oft- 
reflected  light.  But  he  is  the  man  of  God,  in 
whom  the  burning  fire  of  love  and  zeal  radiates 
the  cheering  light  of  truth  and  salvation.  Such 
an  one  was  that  John,  to  whom  Jesus  bare  wit 
ness,  that  he  was  both  a  burning  and  a  shining 
light. 

Happy  is  the  church,  in  which,  like  the  tab 
ernacle  of  old,  the  fire  that  comes  down  from 
heaven  kindles  in  the  golden  candlestick,  and 
burns  on  the  glowing  altar.  The  flame  of  the 
branching  lamp,  fed  by  the  oil  of  grace,  shines 
as  it  was  wont  in  heaven,  revealing  something 
of  heaven  itself.  And  the  same  hallowed  fire, 
as  it  blazes  on  the  altar,  sheds  abroad  the  fra 
grance  of  its  incense  breathing  sweets ;  and, 
with  its  genial  heat,  warms  into  life  and  action 
the  sacred  passions  of  the  soul. 

He,  of  whom  we  are  now  to  speak,  was  a 
luminary  of  this  kind,  and  of  no  inferior  magni 
tude.  He  burned  with  heavenly  love,  and  shone 
with  living  light.  "  There  was  light  in  his  fire, 
and  fire  in  his  light."  He  was  "a  bright,  par 
ticular  star, "in  Christ's  right  hand:  and  though 
now  far  down  toward  the  horizon,  yet  in  the  time 
of  his  ascendant,  there  were  many  that  rejoiced 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  177 

in  his  light,  and  were  guided  by  it,  like  the  wise 
men,  unto  Christ.  They  hailed  it  as  a  star  of 
hopeful  guidance  through  the  perilous  night- 
voyage  of  life,  and  over  its  surging  seas. 

John  Norton  was  born  of  respectable  parent 
age,  on  the  sixth  of  May,  1606,  at  Storford  in 
Hartfordshire.  In  the  spring-time  of  his  life, 
he  blossomed  profusely  with  such  flowers  of  the 
mind,  as  gave  promise  of  rich  fruit  in  his  riper 
years.  He  early  acquired  the  power  of  writing 
Latin  with  uncommon  elegance,  which  proved  to 
him  in  after  years  a  very  useful  accomplishment. 

At  fourteen  years  of  age,  he  was  entered  at 
Peter-House  in  the  University  of  Cambridge. 
Here  he  remained,  noted  for  his  scholarship,  till 
he  had  taken  his  first  degree.  Soon  after  grad 
uating,  in  consequence  of  the  utter  ruin  of  his 
father's  estate,  he  was  forced  to  leave  the  Uni 
versity,  and  betake  himself  to  active  employment 
for  the  means  of  subsistence.  During  his  abode 
at  that  seat  of  learning,  his  eminent  talents  drew 
the  attention  of  a  Romish  priest,  who,  coveting 
such  a  prize,  used  his  best  endeavors  to  win  him 
over  to  the  papal  cause.  But  the  youth,  though 
as  yet  a  stranger  to  the  grace  of  God,  resisted 
the  temptations  of  this  seducer  of  souls. 

Being  naturally  of  a  gay  and  light-hearted 
temper,  he  indulged  in  dancing,  card-playing, 


178         LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

and  other  youthful  vanities.  The  admonitions 
of  a  pious  servant  of  his  father,  first  led  him  to 
more  serious  thoughts,  and  induced  him  to  follow 
"such  things  as  are  of  good  report." 

On  leaving  the  University,  he  at  once,  young 
as  he  was,  became  usher  to  the  school  and  curate 
to  the  church  in  Storford,  his  native  place.  In 
that  town  a  weekly  lecture  was  maintained  by  a 
company  of  devout  aad  able  ministers,  with  sev 
eral  of  whom  he  became  acquainted.  One  of 
these  was  Rev.  Jeremiah  Dyke,  rector  of  Epping; 
a  divine  of  considerable  note.  Under  the  search 
ing  ministry  of  Mr.  Dyke,  the  young  curate  was 
awakened  to  a  deep  sense  of  the  sin  and  misery 
of  his  unregenerate  state.  The  deep  conviction 
of  guilt  he  felt  in  his  heart,  till  he  was  driven 
nearly  to  despair.  Thus  he  mourned  a  while 
beneath  the  dark  and  boding  cloud  which  lower 
ed  over  his  drooping  soul.  The  Spirit  of  God, 
the  only  efficient  Comforter  of  such  mourners, 
disclosed  to  him  the  grace  of  Christ,  and  the 
consoling  promises  of  the  gospel.  His  rejoicing 
was  equal  to  his  sorrow.  He  now  felt  himself 
truly  called  of  God  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  ; 
and  felt  it  his  duty,  now  that  he  was  converted, 
to  strengthen  his  brethren. 

His  thorough  classical  studies  well  fitted  him 
for  the  study  of  theology,  to  which  Lord  Bacon, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  179 

himself  no  mean  theologian,  assigns  the  throne 
as  queen  of  the  sciences,  who  are  her  ministrant 
princesses.  Addicting  himself  to  divinity,  which 
he  cultivated  with  the  life  and  affection  of  an 
experimental  Christian,  he  became  an  able  min 
ister,  and  rose  to  high  repute.  He  wrote  in  a 
sententious  and  vigorous  style.  He  was  fond  of 
pointed  and  figurative  expressions.  His  senten 
ces,  though  not  polished  in  our  fine  modern 
fashion,  were  usually  condensed  and  forcible. 
He  delighted  in  the  warm  and  living  presentation 
of  the  Saviour  ;  and  came  up  to  his  own  admira 
ble  maxim,  that  "  Christ  evidently  held  forth  is 
divine  eloquence." 

He  was  one  of  the  old  staunch  Puritans, 
immovably  grounded  upon  the  doctrines  of 
grace  ;  and  with  a  conscience  perfectly  inflexible, 
when  once  set  right.  His  dislike  of  Arminian- 
ism  rose  even  to  an  antipathy,  from  the  time 
when  he  was  "  touched  by  the  sceptre  of  grace." 
His  orthodoxy,  and  much  more  his  unwillingness 
to  submit  to  things  which  had  been  imposed  on 
the  church  in  derogation  from  the  kingly  power 
of  Christ,  kept  Mr.  Norton  down.  He  could  not 
expect  to  rise  to  the  quiet  enjoyment  of  any 
preferment,  in  an  age  \vhen  the  lordly  prelates 
used  to  say,  that  men  of  his  stamp  "  must  not  be 
allowed  to  rise  till  the  resurrection  day." 


180          LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

The  history  of  the  Church,  in  the  main,  pre 
sents  a  succession  of  corruptions  and  reforms. 
The  Jewish  church,  at  intervals,  was  like  gold 
seven  times  refined.  But,  during  intervening 
ages,  corruption  dimmed  the  burnished  metal, 
and  destroyed  its  ductility  by  large  alloys 
of  base  and  drossy  mineral.  By  his  prophets, 
God  promised  his  people  a  thorough  purification; 
as  when  he  said  ; — "  I  will  turn  my  hand  upon 
thee,  and  purely  purge  away  thy  dross,  and  take 
away  all  thy  tin."  Refining  is  a  work  which 
may  diminish  the  quantity,  but  it  much  more 
increases  the  value  of  what  remains.  All  that 
is  lost  by  it  proves  to  be  clear  gain.  By  the 
removal  of  what  is  taken  away,  the  precious 
residue  is  restored  to  its  real  worth,  utility  and 
beauty.  Happy  is  the  Church  when  thus 
"  purely  purged  "  and  reduced  to  her  primitive 
state  and  order.  Then  is  the  promise  fulfilled ; — 
"  I  will  restore  thy  judges  as  at  the  first,  and  thy 
counselors  as  at  the  beginning  :  afterward  thou 
shalt  be  called,  The  city  of  righteousness,  The 
faithful  city." 

The  Christian  Church  furnishes  a  striking 
parallel  to  that  of  the  Mosaic.  Here  too,  the 
golden  age  of  pristine  purity  was  short.  The 
rich  mass  of  virgin  ore  soon  suffered  repeated 
alloys  of  the  soft  tin  of  human  additions,  and  be- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  181 

gan  to  be  cankered  with  the  eating  rust  of  cor 
ruption.  At  last,  the  pious  beholder  was  forced 
to  cry  out  with  the  prophet  bewailing  the  captive 
daughter  of  Zion ; — "  How  is  the  gold  become 
dim!  how  is  the  most  fine  gold  changed!" 
Then,  in  the  times  of  reformation,  God  purified 
his  Church  in  the  hot  crucible  of  divine  judg 
ments  and  fiery  trials.  And  so  the  word  came 
to  pass  ; — "  He  is  like  a  refiner's  fire  ; — and  he 
shall  sit  as  a  refiner  and  purifier  of  silver  ;  and 
he  shall  purify  the  sons  of  Levi,  and  purge  them 
as  gold  and  silver,  that  they  may  offer  unto  the 
Lord  an  offering  in  righteousness." 

By  his  royal  prerogative,  God  recalled  the 
Church  into  his  mint,  and  purged  the  debased 
and  adulterated  currency;  and  then  re-coined 
and  re-issued  it,  pure  and  bright,  and  stamped 
afresh  with  his  own  sovereign  image  and  super 
scription. 

But  this  grand  reformation  was  not  wrought 
out  without  the  use  of  the  fire  and  the  hammer. 
It  was  in  the  height  of  this  terrible,  but  necessary 
operation,  that  our  puritan  fathers  lived  and 
acted.  As  Mr.  Norton  said  ; — "  The  best  of  the 
servants  of  God  have  lived  in  the  worst  of  times." 
It  was  in  the  midst  of  such  trials  and  excite 
ments,  that  his  character  was  formed,  and  his 
religious  principles  developed.  He  there  attained 
VOL.  IT.  16 


182          LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

to  that  conscientious  integrity,  which  no  worldly 
interest  could  warp. 

His  uncle  would  have  presented  him  to  a 
valuable  benefice,  which  he  was  obliged  to  de 
cline  in  consequence  of  his  scruples  against  the 
ceremonies  which  were  enforced  to  the  infringe 
ment  of  the  royal  rights  of  Jesus  in  his  kingdom. 
He  was  also  earnestly  solicited  by  Dr.  Sibbs, 
Master  of  Katharine  Hall  in  Cambridge,  to  accept 
a  fellowship  in  the  University,  for  which  his 
abilities  eminently  fitted  him.  This  too,  he 
declined,  because  the  office  was  hampered  with 
conditions  which  he  conscientiously  held  to  be 
unlawful  in  the  sight  of  God. 

Thus  precluded  from  other  employment,  he 
contented  himself  with  the  duties  of  chaplain  in 
the  house  of  Sir  William  Masham,  at  High 
Lever,  in  Essex.  Here  he  resided  for  some 
time,  waiting  for  a  more  public  opportunity  to 
exercise  his  ministry,  preaching  as  he  had  oppor 
tunity,  and  rapidly  improving  all  his  qualifica 
tions  for  so  great  a  work.  Though  highly 
esteemed  for  his  abilities,  he  was,  after  a  time, 
utterly  silenced  for  his  non- conformity. 

Convinced,  at  last,  that  he  could  not  hope  to 
worship  God  according  to  the  decisions  of  his 
enlightened  conscience,  in  his  native  land,  he 
turned  his  thoughts  to  America,  and  to  "  the 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  183 

church  in  the  wilderness."  Mr.  Norton  was 
then  recently  married  to  a  lady  of  handsome 
property,  and  of  estimable  character,  and  who 
cheerfully  accompanied  him  to  what  was  the 
"  Far  West  "  of  those  times :  a  region  so  remote, 
that  it  was  fancied  the  last  conflict  with  anti 
christ  must  be  decided  there. 

They  accordingly  repaired  to  Yarmouth, 
about  the  middle  of  September,  1634,  to  take 
ship  for  New  England.  Here  they  were  joined 
by  that  famed  servant  of  God,  Rev.  Thomas 
Shephard,  afterwards  pastor  of  Cambridge,  where 
Harvard  College  was  located  for  the  express 
purpose  of  placing  the  scholars  under  the  influ 
ence  of  his  powerful  ministry.  While  these 
clergymen  tarried  at  Yarmouth  awaiting  the 
sailing  of  their  vessel,  which  was  near  two 
months,  a  few  pious  people  privately  resorted  to 
their  preaching.  This  was  matter  of  no  small 
peril,  as  vigilant  measures  were  adopted  for  their 
apprehension.  Mr.  Shepard  was  in  great  dan 
ger,  as  the  animosity  of  archbishop  Laud  was 
excited  to  special  fury  against  him. 

The  chief  pursuivant  made  an  arrangement 
with  a  boy,  some  sixteen  years  of  age,  who 
lived  in  the  house  where  these  ministers  were 
secreted,  and  to  which  they  had  been  tracked. 
The  youth,  on  the  promise  of  a  considerable 


184         LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

sum  of  money,  agreed  to  open  the  door  for  these 
emissaries  at  a  certain  hour  of  the  night.     After 
this  plot  was  laid,  the  unhappy  traitor  was  much 
affected  by  hearing   the  solemn  and   religious 
conversation  of  Mr.  Shepard,  and  began  to  re 
pent.       His   pensive    and    troubled   appearance 
roused  his  master  to  question  him  for  the  cause; 
and,  after  much  urging,  he  made  full  confession 
of  his  intended  treachery.     The   good  man  of 
the  house  obtained  the  aid  of  some  trusty  friends, 
who  conveyed  the  ministers  away  by  a  retired 
lane,  and  carried  them  in  a  boat  to  another  hid 
ing-place.     The  officers  came   at  the  time  ap 
pointed  :  but,  on  lifting  the  latch,  were  thoroughly 
vexed  to    find  the   door  firmly    closed   against 
them.     In  their  irritation,  they  exceeded  their 
authority  by  attempting  a  forcible  entry.     They 
had  thrust  their  staves  under  the  door,  and  were 
in  the   act  of  lifting  it  from  the  hinges,  when 
they  were  caught  in  this  house-breaking  busi 
ness  by   some  friends   of  the  owner  who  had 
employed  them  for  the  purpose.     The  ungentle 
handling  they  received,  added  to  the  mortification 
of  the  officers  at  losing 'the  prey  of  whose  cap 
ture  they  felt  so  sure.     This  was  one  of  the  little 
comic    scenes    which    sometimes    relieved    the 
many  and  melancholy  acts  of  the  tragedy  of 
persecution.     The  incident  may  serve  a  more 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  185 

important  purpose,  as  illustrating  the  power  of 
a  holy  conversation  to  awaken  the  conscience  of 
the  wicked,  as  in  the  case  of  that  misguided 
youth.  It  also  teaches  a  lesson  of  trust  in  the 
providential  protection  of  God  over  his  suffering 
servants,  who  are  often  snatched  from  the  very 
jaws  of  the  lion. 

It  was  late  in  that  year,  1634,  when  these 
good  men  succeeded  at  last  in  setting  sail  from 
Harwich,  in  the  Great  Hope,  a  ship  of  four  hun 
dred  tons,  commanded  by  an  able  captain,  of  the 
name  of  Girling.  Within  a  few  hours  from 
their  setting  out,  they  met  with  a  succession  of 
disasters.  At  night,  they  came  to  anchor  in  a 
dangerous  place.  In  the  morning,  the  wind  be 
came  violent,  and  drove  the  ship  toward  the 
sands  near  Harwich  harbor,  till  she  grated  heav 
ily  upon  them.  But  she  still  drifted  along,  in  the 
direction  of  Yarmouth.  At  this  juncture  one  of 
the  seamen  was  washed  overboard.  It  was 
sometime  before  any  effort  could  be  made  to  save 
him  :  but  after  he  had  been  about  an  hour  in  the 
sea,  though  unable  to  swim,  he  was  picked  up 
by  three  of  the  men  in  a  boat,  before  life  was 
extinct. 

The  vessel  came  to  anchor  in  Yarmouth  road. 
The  next  morning,  there  arose  a  terrible  west 
erly  gale  of  such  devastating  fury,  that  the  day 
16* 


186          LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

was  long  afterwards  known  as  "  the  windy  Sat 
urday."  Many  vessels,  some  in  full  view,  per 
ished  with  their  crews.  The  Great  Hope  lost 
all  her  upper  works  and  her  anchors,  and  drifted 
till  she  was  but  little  more  than  a  cable's  length 
from  the  sands.  The  master  cried  out  that  they 
were  all  dead  men  :  and  the  whole  ship's  com 
pany  betook  themselves  to  prayer.  Thousands 
of  people  on  shore  looked  with  unavailing  pity 
upon  their  distress,  as  they  were  still  drifting 
toward  the  raging  breakers,  where  the  staunch- 
est  ship  must  soon  "  melt  amid  the  yeast  of  waves." 
Some  compassionate  spectators  offered  large 
sums  of  money  to  any  that  would  go  to  help 
them :  but  none  durst  venture.  An  officer  of 
rank,  on  the  walls  of  Yarmouth  castle,  scoffingly 
remarked,  that  he  felt  sorry  for  a  poor  collier  in 
the  road :  "  but,"  said  he,  "  as  for  the  Puritans 
in  the  other  ship,  I  am  not  concerned ;  their 
faith  will  save  them"  This  unbelieving  scoff 
turned  out  very  differently  from  the  expectation 
of  him  \vho  uttered  it. 

Among  the  passengers,  there  was  one  Mr. 
Cork,  an  intemperate  man,  who  was  no  sailor, 
though  he  had  often  been  to  sea.  He  had  been 
taken  with  the  whim  of  going  to  New  England, 
to  view  the  country.  He  saw  what  needed  to 
be  done,  and  called  upon  the  captain,  who  was 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  187 

stupified  with  consternation,  to  cut  away  his 
masts.  The  captain  being  unwilling,  Cork  pro 
cured  hatchets,  called  upon  the  master  to  be  a 
man,  and  encouraged  the  desponding  seamen, 
till  they  cut  the  mainmast  away,  just  as  they 
had  given  themselves  up  for  lost.  They  had 
one  small  anchor  left,  which  they  dropped  :  but 
the  ship  still  drifted  toward  the  spot  where  they 
expected  shortly  to  be  swallowed  up  by  the 
waves.  The  trembling  passengers  saw  the 
breakers  tumbling  in  their  might,  and  roaring 
for  their  prey,  which  the  yelling  winds  were 
forcing  resistlessly  toward  them.  The  victims 
were  no  strangers  to  the  power  of  prayer,  which 
is  able  to  save  from  death ;  or,  what  is  better 
still,  to  prepare  for  death  the  children  of  the 
resurrection.  Mr.  Shepard  assembled  the  mar 
iners  upon  deck,  and  Mr.  Norton  gathered  the 
passengers,  two  hundred  in  number,  below. 
They  then  applied  themselves  to  fervent  prayer, 
and  found  that  their  hope  in  God  was  the  "best 
bower," — an  anchor  both  sure  and  steadfast. 
The  wind  speedily  abated :  and  the  ship  ceased 
drifting  just  at  the  last  extremity.  They  found 
that  their  last  cable  had  not  parted,  as  they  sup 
posed  it  had;  but  only  dragged  the  anchor, 
which  was  not  quite  heavy  enough  to  break  it, 
along  the  sandy  bottom.  The  vessel  rode  out 


188         LIFE      OF     JOHN      NORTON. 

the  storm,  though  still  very  rough,  and  though 
the  cable  was  let  out  so  far,  that  it  was  held  only 
by  a  small  rope.  One  of  the  company  observed 
this,  and  remarked; — "  That  thread  we  hang  by 
will  save  us!"  And  so  indeed  it  did.  The 
passengers,  astonished  at  their  deliverance,  felt 
that  if  ever  the  Lord  brought  them  to  shore  again, 
they  would  live  like  men  who  had  risen  from  the 
dead.  The  next  morning,  being  the  Sabbath, 
they  were  conveyed  to  shore  by  boats  from  the 
town.  How  applicable  to  them  were  the  words 
of  the  Psalm  ; — "  They  cried  unto  the  Lord  in 
their  trouble,  and  he  bringeth  them  out  of  their 
distresses :  he  maketh  the  storm  a  calm,  so  that 
the  waves  thereof  are  still." 

The  voyage  of  the  ministers  was  thus  de 
feated  for  that  season.  Mr.  Norton  spent  the 
winter  with  his  friends  in  Essex  county ;  where 
his  spiritual  father,  the  excellent  Mr.  Dyke,  joy 
fully  received  him  as  one  restored  from  another 
world,  rejoicing  that  his  friend  had  so  well  sus 
tained  the  trial  of  his  failh. 

Undaunted  by  his  brief,  but  rough  experience 
of  the  dangers  of  the  sea,  Mr.  Norton  was  ready 
to  resume  his  voyage  the  next  year.  Governor 
Winslow  was  then  in  England  as  agent  for  the 
Plymouth  Colony.  He  was  also  authorized  to 
procure  a  teaching  elder,  to  be  colleague  with 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  189 

Rev.  Ralph  Smith,  pastor  of  the  church.  The 
worthy  governor  was  happy  to  obtain  for  that 
office  a  man  so  able  as  Mr.  Norton.  They 
were  fellow- voyagers  to  this  country.  At  their 
departure,  an  aged  minister  said; — "I  believe 
there  is  not  more  grace  and  holiness  left  in  all 
Essex,  than  what  Mr.  Norton  has  carried  away 
with  him." 

Unavoidable  delays  made  it  late  in  1635,  be 
fore  they  began  the  voyage.  They  came  upon 
our  coast  in  the  month  of  October.  Here  arose 
another  terrific  tempest,  which  raged  for  eight 
and  forty  hours  with  such  force,  that  the  ship 
must  have  been  knocked  to  pieces  had  she  not 
been  built  with  more  than  usual  strength.  As 
it  was,  "  they  used  helps,  undergirding  the  ship" 
with  the  cable,  to  assist  in  holding  her  battered 
sides  together.  It  would  seem  as  though  "  the 
prince  of  the  power  of  the  air"  raised  all  his 
storms,  to  prevent  these  men  of  God  from  pro 
ceeding  on  an  enterprise  which  was  destined  to 
endamage  so  greatly  his  kingdom  of  darkness. 
They  then  saw  "  the  works  of  the  Lord,  and  his 
wonders  in  the  deep."  Among  other  marvels, 
they  shipped  a  sea,  which  washed  several  of  the 
sailors  overboard,  and  then  threw  them  in  again. 
Such  an  event,  though  rare,  has  not  been  with 
out  other,  and  well  authenticated  examples. 


190         LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

Ten   days   afterwards,  the   ship  came  safe  into 
Plymouth  harbor. 

There  Mr.  Norton  remained,  and  preached 
through  the  winter.  The  church  very  courte 
ously  and  importunately  urged  him,  with  large 
offers,  to  settle  among  them.  Mr.  Smith  also 
resigned  in  his  favor.  But  all  would  not  do. 
He  alledged,  that  "  his  spirit  could  riot  close  with 
them  :  "  though  to  his  dying  day,  as  Morton's 
Memorial  tells  us,  "  he  retained  a  good  affec 
tion  unto  them."  The  state  of  affairs  in  the 
Massachusetts  colony,  was  more  congenial  to 
his  feelings  :  and  he  removed  to  that  jurisdic 
tion  in  1636,  being  then  thirty  years  of  age. 

He  speedily  received  a  call  to  be  teacher  of 
the  church  at  Ipswich.  Such  things  were  not 
hastily  concluded  in  those  days ;  and  he  re 
mained  sometime  in  Boston,  deliberating  the 
matter.  The  neighboring  ministers  entertained 
the  highest  opinion  of  him  :  and  some  that  were 
noted  men,  and  older  than  he  was,  consulted 
him  in  their  most  important  affairs,  as  a  sort  of 
oracle  of  wisdom.  The  magistrates  also  soon 
began  to  avail  themselves  of  his  great  abilities 
in  conducting  some  arduous  matters.  Among 
other  things,  he  held  a  public  debate  with  a 
French  friar,  who  had  roamed  into  these  anti- 
Roman  parts.  The  Frenchman  relied  mainly 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  191 

on  the  old  scholastic  logic  :  but  he  found  in  the 
young  Puritan  a  ripe  scholar,  and  one  thoroughly 
versed  in  all  the  chief  writings  of  the  school 
men.  The  friar  retreated,  surprised  at  his  own 
discomfiture  in  this  trial  of  skill  at  dialectic 
fencing. 

Mr.  Norton,  Mr.  Stone,  and  others  of  our  old 
divines,  though  they  despised  the  doctrines  of 
the  schoolmen,  had  a  high  opinion  of  their 
mode  of  arguing,  on  account  of  its  brevity  and 
nice  distinctions.  John  Cotton,  in  an  introduc 
tory  epistle  to  one  of  Mr.  Norton's  volumes, 
thus  explains  the  pre-eminence  of  the  school 
men,  which  lay,  he  says,  "  not  in  the  light  of 
divine  grace,  whereof  most  of  them  were  wholly 
destitute ;  nor  in  their  skill  in  tongues  and 
polite  literature,  wherein  they  were  barbarians ; 
nor  in  their  deeper  insight  into  the  holy  Script 
ures,  in  which  they  were  far  less  conversant 
than  in  Peter  Lombard  and  Aristotle  :  but  in 
their  rational  disputes,  with  distinct  solidity  and 
succinct  brevity."  Mr.  Norton  was  a  match  for 
any  of  them  in  their  own  craft : 

"  For  he  a  rope  of  sand  could  twist, 
As  tough  as  learned  Sorbonist." 

His  controversial  skill  was  often  called  into 
exercise  :  for  in  those  days,  as  now,  every  thing 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

had  to  be  discussed.  He  was  an  influential 
member  of  the  synod  of  1637,  which  brought 
the  antinomian  war  to  a  close  in  a  decisive 
pitched  battle,  so  that  no  severe  conflict  with 
that  heresy  has  since  been  waged  in  New  Eng 
land.  Antinomianism  was  so  effectually  killed, 
that  it  has  never  lifted  up  its  head,  not  even  in 
this'  general  resurrection  of  dead,  buried  and 
long-forgotten  errors,  which  is  now  taking  place 
around  us. 

It  was  not  till  the  20th  of  October,  1638,  that 
Mr.  Norton  was  ordained  as  teacher  of  the 
church  in  Ipswich,  which  was  his  first  parochial 
charge.  On  the  same  day,  the  Rev.  Nathaniel 
Rogers  was  ordained  as  pastor  of  that  church. 
Mr.  Rogers  himself  preached  the  ordination 
sermon,  a  much  admired  discourse  from  the 
text ; — "  Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things  ?  " 
That  church  was  then  renowned  for  its  many 
enlightened  Christians  and  distinguished  mem 
bers ;  and  felt  itself  happy  in  its  celebrated 
ministers,  who,  "  with  different  gifts,  but  united 
hearts,"  labored  for  them  in  the  Lord.  Mr. 
Norton  was  followed  to  that  place  by  a  number 
of  families  which  came  all  the  way  from  Eng 
land  on  purpose  to  enjoy  his  ministry. 

We  may  here  take  occasion  to  remark,  that 
for  the  first  half  century,  the  Massachusetts 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  193 

churches  were  not  only  served  by  a  very 
learned,  orthodox  and  zealous  ministry :  but 
that  the  private  brethren  were  exceedingly 
active  in  the  duties  of  social  piety.  The  coun 
try  was  full  of  their  meetings  for  prayer  and 
religious  conference,  and  continued  to  be  so  for 
near  a  century.  In  these,  the  younger  candi 
dates  for  the  ministry,  made  trial  of  their  gifts, 
and  accustomed  themselves  to  speak  to  the  edi 
fication  of  the  church.  Questions  relating  to 
practical  religion  were  there  debated.  A  very 
usual  exercise  in  these  small  assemblies,  was 
the  repeating  of  the  sermons  last  preached  by 
the  pastors,  and  which  were  taken  down  for  the 
purpose  in  short  hand,  an  art  more  common 
then  than  now.  This  repetition  of  the  sermons 
gave  occasion  to  profitable  comparisons  of  the 
views  of  different  hearers,  as  each  stated  how 
his  mind  was  affected  by  the  truths  delivered 
from  the  pulpit.  Thus  was  suggested  an  abun 
dance  of  fruitful  remarks,  and  the  instructions 
of  the  sanctuary  were  more  deeply  and  indelibly 
impressed.  In  these  social  meetings  whole 
days  were  sometimes  spent  in  fasting  and 
prayer;  especially  if  any  in  the  neighborhood 
were  in  affliction,  or  the  administration  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  were  at  hand.  Those  old  Christ 
ians  were  nobly  skilled  in  the  holy  work  of 
VOL.  IT.  17 


194         LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 


prayer.  In  a  book  printed  at  London  in  1681, 
Giles  Firmin,  makes  the  following  statement  of 
what  he  had  often  seen  in  this  country; — 
"  Plain  mechanics  have  I  known,  well  catechized 
and  humble  Christians,  excellent  in  practical 
piety.  They  kept  their  station,  and  did  not 
aspire  to  be  preachers :  but  for  gifts  of  prayer, 
few  clergymen  must  come  near  them.  I  have 
known  some  of  them,  when  they  did  keep  their 
fasts, — as  they  did  often, — they  divided  the 
work  of  prayer.  The  first  begun  with  con 
fession  ;  the  second  went  on  with  petition  for 
themselves ;  the  third  with  petition  for  Church 
and  kingdom ;  the  fourth  with  thanksgiving. 
Every  one  kept  his  own  part,  and  did  not 
meddle  with  another  part.  Such  excellent  mat 
ter,  so  compacted  without  tautologies,  each  of 
them  for  a  good  time,  about  an  hour,  if  not  more 
a  piece  ;  to  the  wondering  of  those  which  joined 
with  them.  Here  was  no  reading  of  liturgies. 
These  were  old  Jacob's  sons :  they  could 
wrestle  and  prevail  with  God."  From  such 
witnesses  as  these,  it  is  evident,  that  the  pro 
fessing  Christians  of  those  times  eminently 
prospered  in  religion,  and  grew  strong  in  grace 
under  the  laborious  ministrations  of  their  able 
teachers. 

The  tone  of  public  morality  was  high.     The 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  195 

Rev.  Nathaniel  Ward  was  Mr.  Norton's  prede- 
decessor  at  Ipswich.  In  a  book  once  very  cele 
brated,  Mr.  Ward  remarks;  —  "I  thank  God  I 
have  lived  in  a  colony  of  many  thousand  English 
almost  these  twelve  years,  and  am  held  a  very 
sociable  man.  Yet  I  may  considerately  say,  I 
never  heard  but  one  oath  sworn,  nor  never  saw 
one  man  drunk,  nor  never  heard  of  three  women 
guilty  of  adultery,  in  all  that  time,  that  I  can 
call  to  mind."  In  a  document  of  those  times,  it 
is  said  of  New  England  ;  —  "  As  Ireland  will  not 
brook  venomous  beasts,  so  will  not  that  land 
vile  persons,  and  loose  livers.  "^  "To  God's 
praise  be  it  spoken,  one  may  live  there  from 
year  to  year,  and  not  see  a  drunkard,  hear  an 
oath,  or  meet  a  beggar.  "t  Though  we  live  in 
sadly  degenerate  times,  and  the  ancient  simplic 
ity  and  purity  of  manners  are  much  impaired, 
the  traces  of  better  days  are  still  distinctly 
visible.  In  a  recorded  conversation  of  Sir  James 
Mackintosh,  that  distinguished  and  philosophical 
historian  is  reported  to  have  said  ;  —  "  The 
remarkable  private  morality  of  the  New  Eng 
land  States  is  worth  attention,  especially  when 
taken  in  connection  with  the  very  moral  char- 


*  New  England's  First  Fruits.    Loncl.    1613.  p.  2G. 
t  II).  p.  23. 


196          LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

acter  of  the  poorer  people  in  Scotland,  Holland 
and  Switzerland.  It  is  rather  singular  that  all 
these  countries,  which  are  more  moral  than  any 
others,  are  precisely  those  in  which  Calvinism 
is  predominant."  Being  told,  upon  this,  that 
Boston  and  Cambridge,  for  it  was  some  thirty 
years  ago  when  this  conversation  took  place, 
had  in  a  great  measure  abandoned  Calvinism, 
Sir  James  replied  ; — "  I  am  rather  surprised  at 
that :  but  the  same  thing  has  happened  in  other 
places  similarly  situated.  Boston,  Geneva  and 
Edinburgh  might  once  have  been  considered  as 
the  three  high  places  of  Calvinism  ;  and  the 
enemy  is  now,  it  seems,  in  full  possession  of 
them  all.  The  fact  appears  to  be  a  consequence 
of  the  principle  of  reaction,  which  operates  as 
universally  in  the  moral  as  in  the  physical 
world.  "^  Since  then,  there  has  been  another 
"  reaction  "  back  again,  which  is  still  going  on. 
The  much  commended  Orthodox  morality  can 
not  long  survive  the  destruction  of  the  Orthodox 
truth  and  piety.  Unless  the  tree  shall  revive, 
the  fruits  must  disappear. 

The  General  Court,  fully  sensible  that  the 
labors  of  the  ministers  diminished  the  cares  of 
government,  by  cherishing  good  order  in  the 

*  Critical  and  Miscellaneous  Essays,  £c.  by  Alexander  H.  Everett, 
p.  301. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  197 

community,  encouraged  the  clergy  to  the  extent 
of  their  means.  Among  numerous  grants  of 
the  kind,  we  find  two  hundred  acres  of  land 
voted  to  Mr.  Norton,  on  the  fifth  of  November, 
1639. 

Besides  his  exertions  for  the  benefit  of  his 
flock,  he  made  himself  useful  to  the  religious 
community  at  large.  He  performed  one  special 
service  to  the  cause.  In  1644,  William  Apol- 
lonius,  pastor  of  Middleburg,  in  Holland,  at  the 
request  of  the  divines  of  Zealand,  sent  a  series 
of  questions,  relating  to  church  government,  to 
the  Congregational  ministers  of  London.  The 
London  divines  referred  the  matter  to  those  of 
New  England :  and  these  last  unanimously 
devolved  the  duty  of  replying  upon  Mr.  Norton. 
With  that  modesty  and  humility  which  he  never 
lost,  he  for  some  time  declined  the  duty.  His 
reply,  published  the  next  year,  was  elegantly 
written  in  Latin,  and  is  said  to  have  been  the 
first  book  prepared  in  that  language  in  this 
country.  It  has  an  elaborate  Introductory  Epis 
tle,  signed  "Johannes  Cotton,  in  Ecclesia  Bos- 
toniensi  Presbyter  Docens."  It  is  a  valuable 
exposition  of  the  church-practice  of  our  fathers  : 
and  gave  great  satisfaction  to  those  at  whose 
instance  it  was  drawn  up.  Dr.  Hornbeck,  a 
learned  professor  of  divinity  at  Leyden,  though 
17* 


198         LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

strongly  opposed  to  it,  as  being  a  strict  Presby 
terian  himself,  warmly  commended  the  work  for 
the  singular  acumen  joined  with  ingenuous 
candor,  which  it  manifested.  In  his  Church 
History  of  Great  Britain,  Dr.  Fuller,  one  of  the 
best  divines  of  the  Church  of  England,  re 
marks  ; — "  Of  all  the  authors  I  have  perused 
concerning  these  opinions,  none  to  me  was  more 
informative  than  Mr.  John  Norton,  one  of  no 
less  learning  than  modesty,  in  his  answer  to 
Apollonius." 

While  Mr.  Norton  was  deeply  engaged  in 
the  preparation  of  this  important  work,  an  inci 
dent  occurred  which  illustrates  the  times  and 
the  men.  Some  of  his  critical  hearers  imagined 
that  his  absorption  in  that  study  prevented  him 
from  bestowing  that  careful  preparation  upon  his 
pulpit  discourses,  to  which  he  had  accustomed 
them.  Upon  this,  one  of  them  went,  not  directly 
to  his  pastor,  but  to  Rev.  Samuel  Whiting,  the 
excellent  minister  of  Lynn.  This  gentleman 
took  occasion,  in  a  very  kind  and  respectful 
manner,  to  say  to  Mr.  Norton; — "  Sir,  there  are 
some  of  your  people,  who  think  that  the  services 
wherein  you  are  engaged  for  all  the  churches, 
do  something  take  off  from  the  edge  of  the 
ministry  wherewith  you  should  serve  your  own 
particular  church.  I  would  intreat  you,  Sir,  to 


_      ^LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  199 

consider  this  matter;  for  our  greatest  work  is, 
to  preach  the  gospel  unto  that  flock  whereof  we 
are  overseers."  This  admonition,  precise  and 
formal  as  it  may  seem  to  us,  had  the  desired 
effect.  It  was  as  kindly  taken,  as  it  was  well 
meant:  so  true  is  the  wisdom  of  Solomon, 
which  saith ;— «  Rebuke  a  wise  man,  and  he 
will  love  thee." 

Some  years  afterwards,  Mr.  Norton  drafted 
a  letter  in   Latin,  signed  by  himself  and  forty- 
three   other  ministers,   and  addressed  to  John 
Dury.     This  Dury  was  a  visionary  man,  who 
spoiled  an  immense  number  of  reams  of  paper, 
in  writing  and  printing  upon  the   subject   of  a 
general  pacification  and  union  of  all  Protestant 
churches.     In  one  of  his  prefaces,  he  says;—"  I 
think  myself  bound  to  declare  this,  That  I  am 
under  a  vow  to  prosecute  upon  all  occasions,  as 
long  as  I  live,  the  ways  of  evangelical  reconcili 
ation    among    Protestants."      Many   were    his 
votive  offerings  at  the  shrine  of  peace.     There 
have  been   many  such  pleasant  schemers,  and 
there  are  some   such  now,  who  seem  to  have 
taken    the    hint   of   their   plan    of  union    from 
Aaron's  rod,  which  swallowed  up  all  its  com 
petitors.     What    a   beautiful    union    it   would 
make,  if  all  other  denominations  would  only  be 
Sood  natured  enough  to  come  over  to  the  be- 


200         LIFE      OF      JOHN     NORTON^ 

nevolent  writer's  sect !  Some  have  even  started 
new  sects  for  this  purpose,  which,  like  so  many 
cuttings  of  a  polypus,  have  each  become  com 
plete  organizations,  and  increased,  rather  than 
diminished,  the  great  sectarian  swarm.  Dury 
carried  on  an  immense  correspondence  to  pro 
mote  his  project :  and  officiated  as  clergyman  in 
several  denominations  successively.  He  finally 
fulfilled  his  vow  oddly  enough  by  dying,  so  they 
say,  a  Quaker ! 

The  multiplicity  and  distraction  of  sects  has 
long  been  regarded  as  a  sore  evil.     Mr.  Norton, 
in  his  "Life  of  Mr.   John  Cotton,"  makes  the 
following    striking    remarks ;—"  The    present 
vexation  of  consciences,  and  of  the  civil  estates, 
with  uncertainty  and  manifold  heresy  in  matter 
of  faith,  hath  no  small  tendency  to  bring  back 
the   Infallible  Chair.     People  will  accept  of  a 
quiet   harbor,    though    upon    hard    conditions, 
rather  than  be   afflicted  with  continual  tossings 
upon  stormy  seas.     It  is  natural  to  man  to  covet 
any  quiet  land,  rather  than  to   dwell  with  the 
terror  of  a  continual  earthquake."    These  words 
were   prophetic.      They   indicate   the   motives 
which  afterwards  made  Papists  of  Dryden  and 
many  others.     In  our  times,  many  have  taken 
shelter  from  the  contending  winds  of  faction  in 
the  solemn  cave  of  prelacy:  but  alas  for  them! 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  20 1 

they  have  found  it  to  be  the  cave  of  Eolus, 
where  not  the  wind-god  himself  hath  power  to 
bind  his  rebellious  subjects.  In  running-  from  the 
rain,  men  have  stumbled  into  the  ditch.  While 
human  nature  remains  what  it  has  been  ever 
since  the  fall,  party  spirit  will  stalk  through  the 
sanctuaries  :  and  like  a  demon,  whom  no  exor 
cist  hath  power  to  cast  out,  will  haunt  the 
cathedral,  no  less  than  the  chapel. 

In  the  Latin  epistle  to  Dury,  which  Mr.  Nor 
ton  drew  up  in  1645,  for  himself  and  the  other 
angels  of  the  churches  in  Massachusetts,  they 
utterly  disclaim  the  charge  of  being  moved  by  a 
schismatical  temper.^  "  We  must  ingenuously 
confess,"  say  they,  "  that  then,  when  all  things 
were  quiet,  and  no  threatening  signs  of  war  ap 
peared,  seeing  we  could  not  be  permitted  by  the 
bishops  at  that  time  prevailing,  to  perform  the 
office  of  the  ministry  in  public,  nor  yet  to  enjoy 
the  ordinances  without  subscription  and  conform 
ity,  as  they  were  wont  to  speak,  nor  without  the 
mixture  of  human  inventions  with  divine  insti 
tutions,  we  chose  rather  to  depart  into  the  re- 

*  A  copy  of  this  document,  in  the  handwriting  of  Rev.  John  Wil 
son,  and  bearing  the  autographs  of  the  subscribing  ministers,  is  in 
the  possession  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society  at  Worcester. 
This  proof  that  those  good  men  were  what  the  puritan  Perkins 
called  REFORMED  CATHOLICS,  is  a  curious  and  precious  relic. 


202          LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

mote  and  unknown  coasts  of  the  earth,  for  the 
sake  of  a  purer  worship,  than  to  lie  down  under 
the  hierarchy  in  the  abundance  of  all  things,  but 
with  the  prejudice  of  conscience.  But  that  in 
flying  from  our  country,  we  should  renounce 
communion  with  such  churches  as  profess  the 
gospel,  is  a  thing  which  we  confidently  and  sol 
emnly  deny.  Certainly,  so  far  as  concerns  our 
selves,  in  whatever  assemblies  among  us  the 
whole  company  of  them  that  profess  the  gospel, 
the  fundamentals  of  doctrine,  and  essentials  of 
order  are  maintained,  although  in  many  niceties 
of  controversial  divinity  they  are  at  less  agree 
ment  with  us,  we  do  hereby  make  it  manifest, 
(which  yet  we  would  always  have  understood, 
so  as  the  least  part  of  truth,  according  to  the 
nature  of  that  reverence  which  ought  exactly  to 
be  yielded  thereunto,  may  be  preserved,)  that 
we  do  acknowledge  them,  all  and  every  one,  for 
brethren :  and  that  we  shall  be  ready  to  give 
unto  them  the  right  hands  of  fellowship  in  the 
Lord,  if  in  other  things  they  be  peaceable,  and 
walk  orderly."  This  public  act  and  testimony 
is  sufficient  to  evince  that  the  principles  of  our 
fathers  in  the  matter  of  communion  were  truly 
Christian  and  catholic. 

Mr.  Norton  preached  the  annual  election  ser 
mon   in    1645,   before  the   Great   and  General 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  203 

Court.  This  ancient  custom  is  still  maintained 
among-  us.  Very  many  of  the  early  discourses 
preached  upon  this  occasion  are  extant  in  printed 
form,  and  furnish  a  lively  picture  of  the  times. 
Many  of  them  are  noble  patterns  of  ministerial 
boldness,  fidelity  and  zeal. 

Mr.  Norton  took  a  leading-  part  in  the  cele 
brated  synod  which  met  at  Cambridge  in  1646, 
and  drew  up  the  Platform  of  Church  discipline. 
It  was  at  first  proposed  that  this  synod  should 
be  summoned  by  order  of  the  civil  authority. 
But  great  objection  being  made,  lest  this  might 
lead  to  some  encroachment  on  the  liberty  of  the 
churches,  the  General  Court  refrained  from  a 
positive  order,  and  merely  passed  a  vote  recom 
mending  to  the  churches  to  send  their  pastors 
and  delegates.  Even  this  modification  would 
not  appease  the  jealous  scruples  of  some  of  the 
churches  ;  and  that  of  Boston  especially  refused 
to  send  a  delegation.  As  it  was  very  important 
that  a  church  so  influential  should  not  stand 
aloof  from  the  undertaking,  strenuous  efforts 
were  made  to  overcome  the  reluctance  of  its 
members,  till  a  majority  of  four-sevenths  was 
obtained  in  favor  of  the  measure.  As  that 
church  had  always  before  this  acted  unanimous 
ly  in  matters  of  consequence,  there  was  an  un- 


204  LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

willingness  to  proceed  against  the  wishes  of  so 
large  a  minority. 

In  this  emergency  Mr.  Norton  came  forward 
and  united  the  breach.  Coming  over  from 
Cambridge  with  the  whole  synod,  he  preached 
the  Thursday  lecture  in  the  Boston  Church 
from  Exodus  4 :  27,  where  the  history  tells  how 
Aaron  met  Moses  in  the  mount  of  God,  and 
kissed  him.  He  showed,  that  the  ecclesiastical 
power  should  meet  the  reasonable  requirements 
of  the  civil  authority ;  and  the  ministry  co-oper 
ate  with  the  magistracy,  when  called  upon  by 
the  latter,  in  deliberating  for  the  public  peace 
and  welfare.  He  explained,  that  the  synod  had 
no  power,  except  to  consult,  declare  and  advise  : 
and  that  it  claimed  no  judicial  or  coercive  au 
thority.  Mr.  Norton's  suggestions  were  so  well 
taken,  that  the  dispute  was  ended ;  and  Boston 
Church  sent  her  pastor,  and  teacher,  and  three 
lay  delegates  to  the  synod.  When  the  result  of 
the  synod  was  declared,  Mr.  Norton  used  all  his 
influence  to  procure  its  acceptance  with  the 
churches.  The  Platform  having  thus  received 
a  full  ecclesiastical  sanction,  was  then  presented 
to  the  General  Court,  which  gave  it  what  fur 
ther  sanction  the  civil  government  had  to  be 
stow.  The  Cambridge  Platform  was  highly 
approved  by  many  of  the  most  eminent  divines 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  205 

across  the  water.  Richard  Baxter,  one  of  the 
holiest  and  most  studious  men  that  ever  lived, 
but  a  few  months  before  his  death,  wrote  to  Dr. 
Increase  Mather; — "  I  am  as  zealous  a  lover  of 
the  New  England  Churches  as  any  man,  ac 
cording  to  Mr.  Norton's  and  the  synod's  model." 

In  1646,  the  colony  stood  in  need  of  agents 
to  attend  to  its  affairs  in  England:  and  Gover 
nor  Winthrop  and  Mr.  Norton  were  selected  for 
that  business.  But  the  matter  was  dropped  from 
the  fear,  that  if  they  once  got  to  England,  it 
being  the  time  of  the  civil  wars,  these  eminent 
men  would  be  detained  there  in  public  employ 
ments,  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  colony 
which  could  not  spare  them.  It  was  an  honor 
able  appointment,  showing  the  great  trust  re 
posed  in  them:  and  the  recall  of  it  was  still 
more  honorable  to  them,  as  showing  the  fear 
that  was  felt  of  losing  them. 

A  Mr.  Pyncheon  had  written  a  dialogue, 
which  went  against  the  doctrine  of  the  vicarious 
sufferings  of  Christ,  and  the  imputation  of  his 
righteousness  for  the  justification  of  the  believer. 
The  General  Court  was  zealous  for  the  ortho 
doxy  they  sincerely  loved,  and  fearful  that 
Christians  abroad  might  be  led  by  Pyncheon's 
book  to  doubt  whether  their  New  England 
brethren  were  sound  in  the  faith.  The  Court 
VOL.  n.  18 


206  LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

called  upon  Mr.  Norton,  as  "a  ready  scribe," 
on  such  occasions,  to  confute  the  objectionable 
book.  He  accordingly  prepared  a  confutation 
of  it,  in  which  he  discusses  Christ's  "  active  and 
passive  righteousness,  and  the  imputation  there 
of."  This  reply  was  presented  to  the  Court  in 
December,  1651,  when  it  was  read  to  the  offend 
er,  who  appears  not  to  have  yielded  his  objec 
tionable  opinions.  However  the  work  was  sent 
to  England,  and  printed  at  the  colony's  charge. 
It  contains  a  dedication  to  the  General  Court  of 
the  Massachusetts  Colony,  which  says  ;— "  You 
have  been  among  the  first  of  magistrates  which 
have  approved  and  practiced  the  Congregational 
way  :  no  small  favor  from  God,  nor  honor  to 
yourselves  with  the  generation  to  come." 

Mr.  Norton's  last  work  of  importance  was 
published  at  London,  in  1654,  under  the  title  of 
"The  Orthodox  Evangelist."  It  is  a  compre 
hensive  system  of  divinity,  written  in  the  taste 
of  the  times,  full  of  careful  divisions,  removing 
objections,  abounding  in  texts  of  Scripture,  and 
arraying  a  host  of  theological  authorities.  His 
style  is  that  of  a  man  who  thinks  nothing  about 
it,  in  his  anxiety  to  make  each  link  in  the  chain 
of  his  argument  as  strong  as  possible.  No  time 
was  spent  in  filing  and  polishing.  As  a  soldier 
of  the  cross,  he  was  not  decked  like  a  "  carpet- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  207 

knight,"  to  make  a  figure  in  a  pompous  proces 
sion,  or  a  courtly  levee.  As  his  friend,  John 
Cotton  said  of  him,  he  arrayed  himself  not  for 
the  parade  ground,  but  for  the  battle-field. 
"  There  was  a  noble  negligence  in  his  style  ; 
for  his  great  mind  could  not  stoop  to  the  affected 
eloquence  of  words." 

The  doctrines  which  Mr.  Norton  chiefly 
taught  from  the  pulpit,  are  systematically 
presented  in  his  Orthodox  Evangelist.  In  this 
work,  he  treats  of  the  being  and  perfections  of 
the  Triune  God,  with  all  imaginable  nicety  and 
subtlety  of  distinction  and  inference.  The  divine 
and  human  agency,  and  the  doctrine  of  decrees, 
are  discussed  with  great  ability;  and  all  con 
ceivable  objections  are  stated  and  removed.  It 
is  an  abbreviation,  though  long  enough,  of  the 
whole  controversy  relative  to  these  points.  The 
reader  can  hardly  fail  to  be  struck  with  the 
reflection,  that  there  has  been  but  little  progress 
in  this  "high  argument;"  wherein  almost  every 
thing,  which  can  now  be  said  upon  either  side, 
was  anticipated  so  long  ago.  Mr.  Norton 
maintains,  that  the  will  of  God  is  the  cause  of 
all  other  causes.  "  Second  causes  are  the  effects 
of  the  First  Cause.  The  will  of  man  is  an 
instrument  disposed,  and  determined  unto  its 
action,  according  to  the  decree  of  God.  The 


208  LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

rod  is  not  more  subordinate  unto  the  hand  of 
the  smiter,  nor  the  staff  to  the  hand  of  the 
mover,  nor  the  axe  to  the  hand  of  the  hewer, 
nor  the  saw  to  him  that  shaketh  it,  Isa.  10 :  5, 
15,  nor  any  other  passive  instrument  to  the 
hand  of  a  free  agent ;  than  the  will  of  man  is 
unto  the  decree  of  God."  "Man,  even  in  vio 
lating  God's  command,  fulfilleth  God's  decree." 
"  Though  sin,  as  sin,  be  evil,  yet  the  being  of 
sin  for  a  better  end  is  good."  Though  sin  be 
voluntary,  yet  God  controls  and  overrules  it  for 
good.  "  The  water  whilst  it  runneth  its  own 
course,  serveth  the  end  of  the  artificer  in  turn 
ing  about  the  mill  according  to  his  intent.  An 
illegitimate  child  is  a  creature  of  God ;  but  its 
illegitimacy  is  the  crime  of  its  parents."  Mr. 
Norton  earnestly  contends,  that,  though  God  has 
decreed  the  existence  of  sin,  he  is  not  the 
author  of  sin.  The  idea  that  God  is  the  au 
thor  of  sin,  is  spoken  of  as  "a  blasphemy, 
which  the  devil  has  spit  out  at  the  divine  provi 
dential  purposes."  "  The  liberty  of  man,  though 
subordinate  to  God's  decree,  freely  willeth  the 
very  same  thing,  and  no  other,  than  that  which 
it  would  have  willed,  if  (upon  a  supposition  of 
that  impossibility,)  there  had  been  no  decree. 
Man  acts  as  freely,  as  if  there  were  no  decree  ; 
yet  as  infallibly,  as  if  there  were  no  liberty. 
Liberty  is  the  effect  of  the  decree,  so  far  is  the 


LIFE      OF     JOHN      NORTON.  209 


decree  from  being  a  prejudice  to  liberty."  Rep 
robates  freely  commit  such  a  measure  of  sin,  as 
shall  fit  them  for  the  intended  measure  of 
wrath  :  and  yet  will  certainly  commit  neither 
more  nor  less.  "  God  determineth  the  will 
suitably  and  agreeably  to  its  own  nature ;  that 
is,  freely.  He  so  determineth  the  will,  as  that 
the  will  determineth  itself.  The  efficiency  of 
God  offereth  no  violence,  nor  changeth  the 
nature  of  things  ;  but  governeth  them  according 
to  their  own  natures."  "Necessity  doth  not 
prejudice  liberty.  God  is  necessarily  good,  yet 
freely  good."  Man  is  a  free  agent,  having  a 
real,  though  subordinate,  efficiency. 

In  the  book  we  are  reviewing,  it  is  taught, 
that  all  mankind  partook  in  Adam's  sin,  which 
is  justly  imputed  to  them  ;  and  that  original  sin 
is  a  hereditary  and  habitual  opposition  of  the 
heart  to  the  divine  will ;  that  God,  of  his  wis 
dom  and  mercy,  hath  elected  whom  he  would 
to  eternal  life  ;  that  these  are  converted  by  the 
Spirit  of  God ;  that  the  whole  guilt  of  their  sins 
is  imputed  to  Christ,  and  his  perfect  obedience 
is  imputed  to  them,  arid  is  received  by  faith 
alone ;  that  the  faith  of  the  elect  is  the  effect  of 
irresistible  grace ;  and  that  the  soul  is  passive 
in  the  first  reception  of  faith,  because  faith  is 
first  a  faculty,  and  then  an  act. 
18* 


210  LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

Such  are  some  of  the  positions  sustained  in 
the  Orthodox  Evangelist,  with  a  vast  variety  of 
reasons,  and  illustrations,  and  authorities,  and 
Scriptures.  All  objections  are  diligently  sought 
for  and  confuted  ;  and  the  whole  is  done  with  a 
marvelous  method  and  brevity.  The  volume 
ends  with  some  striking  speculations  upon  the 
state  of  the  blessed  after  death,  and  after  the 
resurrection.  It  closes  in  the  following  strain  : 
"  Add  this  consideration  of  the  blessedness  of 
our  souls,  which  immediately  follows  upon  our 
dissolution  from  the  body,  and  admits  no  delay. 
The  soul  is  no  sooner  out  of  this  earthly,  than 
it  is  in  its  heavenly  house.  In  a  moment,  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye,  before  the  eyes  of  the  dead 
body  are  closed,  the  eye  of  the  living  soul  shall 
behold  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  Amen.  Even 
so,  come  Lord  Jesus." 

Such  was  the  system  of  doctrine  with  which 
the  puritan  preachers  fed  the  souls  of  their 
people.  With  this  "  strong  meat,"  they  were 
raised  up  to  that  elevated  stature  of  piety,  and 
giant  strength  of  character,  which  their  great 
work  required.  The  diluted  diet  of  a  laxer 
theology  would  have  so  dwarfed  and  enfeebled 
their  minds,  as  to  spoil  them  for  their  destiny, 
and  marred  or  prevented  its  fulfillment. 

The  moral  and  political  influence  of  Calvin- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  211 


ism  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  instructive 
studies  among  all  the  lessons  of  history.     It  has 
ever   been    remarkable    for   generating  a   high 
tone  of  principle,  and   a  spirit  of  firmness  and 
independence.     Of  its   disciples   in  the   seven 
teenth  century,  it  is  said  by  the  most  eloquent 
of  modern  essayists  ; — "  The  very  meanest  of 
them  was  a  being  to  whose   fate  a  mysterious 
and    terrible    importance   belonged, — on   whose 
slightest  action  the  spirits  of  light  and  darkness 
looked  with  anxious   interest, — who   had  been 
destined,  before  heaven  and  earth  were  created, 
to  enjoy  a  felicity  which  should  continue  when 
heaven    and    earth    should  have   passed  away. 
Events  which  short-sighted  politicians  ascribed 
to    earthly   causes    had   been    ordained   on  his 
account.     For  his  sake,  empires  had  risen,  and 
flourished,   and   decayed.      For    his    sake,    the 
Almighty  had  proclaimed  his  will  by  the  pen  of 
the  evangelist,  and  the  harp  of  the  prophet.    He 
had  been  rescued  by  no  common  deliverer  from 
the    grasp  of  no   common   foe.     He   had  been 
ransomed  by  the  sweat  of  no  vulgar  agony,  by 
the  blood  of  no   earthly  sacrifice.     It  was  for 
him,  that  the   sun  had  been  darkened,  that  the 
rocks  had  been  rent,  that  the  dead  had  arisen, 
that  all  nature  had   shuddered  at  the  sufferings 


212  LIFE      OF      JOHN     NORTON. 

of  her  expiring  Lord  !  "*  A  character  bred  and 
trained  under  the  influence  of  the  doctrines  of 
personal  election  and  redemption,  must  reach  to 
something  of  that  sublimity  which  tramples  on 
earthly  crowns  and  distinctions  ;  and  with  still 
higher  flight,  attains  to  a  glorious  prostration  at 
the  feet  of  God. 

As  a  sort  of  pendent,  or  parallel  to  the 
splendid  effusion  of  Macaulay,  we  may  present 
the  sketch  of  a  living  American  writer.  "  Every 
individual  who  had  experienced  the  raptures  of 
devotion,  every  believer,  who,  in  his  moments 
of  ecstacy,  had  felt  the  assurance  of  the  favor  of 
God,  was  in  his  own  eyes  a  consecrated  person. 
For  him  the  wonderful  counsels  of  the  Almighty 
had  chosen  a  Saviour;  for  him  the  laws  of 
nature  had  been  suspended  and  controlled,  the 
heavens  had  opened,  earth  had  quaked,  the  sun 
had  veiled  his  face,  and  Christ  had  died  and 
had  risen  again  ;  for  him  prophets  and  apostles 
had  revealed  to  the  world  the  oracles  and  the 
will  of  God.  Viewing  himself  as  an  object  of 
the  divine  favor,  and  in  this  connection  dis 
claiming  all  merit,  he  prostrated  himself  in  the 
dust  before  heaven  :  looking  out  upon  mankind, 
how  could  he  but  respect  himself,  whom  God 

*  Edinburgh  Review.   No.   LXXXIV.    1825. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  213 

had  chosen  and  redeemed.  He  cherished  hope  ; 
he  possessed  faith  ;  as  he  walked  the  earth,  his 
heart  was  in  the  skies.  Angels  hovered  round 
his  path,  charged  to  minister  to  his  soul ;  spirits 
of  darkness  leagued  together  to  tempt  him  from 
his  allegiance.  His  burning  piety  could  use  no 
liturgy  ;  his  penitence  could  reveal  his  trans 
gressions  to  no  confessor.  He  knew  no  superior 
in  sanctity.  He  could  as  little  become  the  slave 
of  a  priestcraft  as  of  a  despot."^  Such  is  the 
natural  tendency  of  truth.  "  Election  implies 
faith,  and  faith  freedom."  Says  the  same  able 
writer; — "  The  political  character  of  Calvinism, 
which,  with  one  consent  and  with  instinctive 
judgment,  the  monarchs  of  that  day  feared  as 
republicanism,  and  which  Charles  II.  declared 
a  religion  unfit  for  a  gentleman,  is  expressed  by 
a  single  word — predestination.  Did  a  proud 
aristocracy  trace  its  lineage  through  generations 
of  a  high-born  ancestry  ? — the  republican  re 
former,  with  a  loftier  pride,  invaded  the  invisible 
world,  and  from  the  book  of  life  brought  down 
the  record  of  the  noblest  enfranchisement,  de 
creed  from  all  eternity  by  the  King  of  kings. 
His  few  converts  defied  the  opposing  world  as  a 
world  of  reprobates,  whom  God  had  despised 

*  Bancroft,  Hist.  U.  S.    I.    461,2. 


214  LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

and  rejected.  To  them  the  senses  were  a 
totally  depraved  foundation,  on  which  neither 
truth  nor  goodness  could  rest.  They  went  forth 
in  confidence  that  men  who  were  kindling  with 
the  same  exalted  instincts,  would  listen  to  their 
voice,  and  be  effectually  "  called  into  the  brunt 
of  the  battle "  by  their  side.  And  standing 
serenely  amidst  the  crumbling  fabrics  of  centu 
ries  of  superstitions,  they  had  faith  in  one 
another.''^ 

We  have  here  the  testimony  of  two  eminent 
scholars,  richly  endowed  with  the  historical 
spirit,  and  with  the  rare  gift  of  discerning  the 
operation  of  moral  causes.  Neither  of  them  can 
be  -charged  with  being  biassed  by  an  undue 
partiality  to  Calvinism.  The  leaning  of  their 
minds  is  rather  in  the  opposite  direction.  It  is 
not  from  experience,  that  they  describe  the 
workings  of  the  ancient  orthodoxy  upon  the 
souls  of  its  adherents.  But  as  keen-eyed  inves 
tigators,  they  have  looked  upon  the  results  it 
wrought  out :  and  they  have  traced  its  noble 
and  lasting  consequences  in  their  lofty  strains  of 
eulogy.  We  see  in  what  mould  of  doctrine 
those  minds  were  cast,  whose  iron  strength 
subdued  kingdoms  and  wildernesses,  triumphed 

*  Bancroft.    II.   462,3. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  215 

over  native  infirmity,  shattered  the  chains  of 
darkness  in  every  link,  and  proclaimed  the 
jubilee  of  freedom  to  the  children  of  God.  The 
Pauline  theology  bred  that  courageous  reckless 
ness  which  broke  in  pieces  the  enslaving  images 
of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  oppression,  before 
which  servility  had  crouched,  and  superstition 
had  groveled,  for  ages.  No  matter  for  the  costly 
carvings  of  the  seats  of  irresponsible  and  abso 
lute  power :  no  matter  how  gorgeous  the 
stainings  which  glazed  the  oriel  windows  of  the 
fanes,  where  priestly  usurpation  dwelt  amid 
congenial  gloom.  All,  all  must  be  courageously 
demolished,  as  monuments  and  supports  of 
tyranny  and  corruption.  The  Puritans  were  the 
men  for  this  work.  The  tenets  of  their  faith 
cast  them  upon  the  Lord  in  almost  superhuman 
confidence:  and  "through  God,  they  did  val 
iantly." 

To  the  labors  of  Mr.  Norton  and  his  brethren 
in  the  inculcation  of  religious  truth,  New  Eng 
land  is  indebted  for  nearly  all  that  constitutes 
her  happiness  and  renown.  Her  character  of 
dauntless  independence,  public  spirit,  resolute 
enterprise,  and  invincible  perseverance,  was 
cherished  by  the  orthodoxy  which  fed  and  exer 
cised  her  infancy  and  youth.  This  was  the 
nursing-mother  of  her  greatness,  "severely 


216  LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

kind,"  careful  of  her  childhood,  and  prodigal  to 
her  maturity.  Each  family  of  the  early  colonists 
has  multiplied,  on  the  average,  to  more  than  a 
thousand  souls.  Their  descendants  are  now 
numbered  by  millions ;  and,  true  to  the  coloniz 
ing  spirit,  have  spread  the  puritan  influence 
over  the  newer  states,  and  the  most  distant  set 
tlements,  of  our  land.  Bible  orthodoxy  was  the 
fountain-head  of  those  extending  influences,  so 
salutary  to  our  nation  and  the  world. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  217 


CHAPTER    II. 

Mr.  Cotton  on  his  death-bed  recommends  that  Mr.  Norton  should  be 
his  successor.  Mr.  Norton  invited  to  Boston.  Removes.  Reclaimed 
by  Ipswich.  Contentions  and  Councils.  Interference  of  Govern 
ment.  Mr.  Norton  installed  in  Boston.  His  influence.  His  second 
marriage.  "  Heart  of  New  England  Rent."  Quakers.  Alledged 
persecutions.  Bancroft's  vindication  of  the  Fathers.  Mr.  Norton's 
views.  His  commission  to  England  with  Governor  Bradstreet. 
Letters  of  General  Court  to  Boston  Church  and  neighboring  min 
isters.  Audience  at  Whitehall.  Commissioners  return.  Discon 
tents.  Mr.  Norton's  Death.  His  last  discourses  printed.  Norton's 
Memorial.  Anagrams.  Elegy.  Last  will  and  testament.  Rela 
tives.  Mrs.  Norton's  benefactions  to  Old  South  Church.  Her  ex 
travagant  funeral  expenses.  Mr.  Norton's  natural  disposition.  His 
hilarity.  Ann  Hibbens  hung  for  witchery.  Beach's  Letter.  Mr. 
Norton's  opposition  to  the  execution.  Witchcraft  delusion  univer 
sal.  Sweden.  England.  Scotland.  France.  Last  executions  for 
witchcraft.  Massachusetts  the  first  jurisdiction  to  abolish  the 
practice.  False  impressions  of  Puritan  character.  Puritan  women. 
Mr.  Norton's  scholarship.  His  Diary.  I.  Mather.  Mr.  Norton's 
extraordinary  gift  in  prayer.  Conclusion. 

WHEN  Mr.  Cotton  lay  upon  his  death-bed,  his 
church  requested  him  to  recommend  a  fit  person 
to  be  his  successor.  The  sick  man,  while  re 
volving  in  his  mind  what  advice  to  give,  dreamed 
that  he  saw  Mr.  Norton  riding  into  Boston  on  a 
white  horse  to  succeed  him.  The  dream,  as  it 
happened,  afterwards  came  to  pass  in  every  cir 

VOL.    II.        19 


218  LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

cumstance.  The  dying  patriarch,  finding  his 
waking  thoughts  could  not  better  his  dreaming 
cogitations,  nominated  the  teacher  of  Ipswich,  if 
he  could  be  obtained,  to  take  the  place  which 
was  about  to  be  vacated.  Mr.  Cotton,  however, 
was  not  directed  in  his  advice  by  his  night-vis 
ion  ;  bat  by  his  knowledge  of  the  fact,  that  Mr. 
Norton  had  gained  the  consent  of  his  people  to 
his  leaving  them,  and  returning  to  England 
within  twelve  months,  unless  some  contingency 
should  prevent. 

When  Mr.  Cotton  had  departed  to  his  rest,  his 
church  acted  upon  his  advice,  and  sent  brethren 
to  Ipswich  to  obtain  the  consent  of  that  people  to 
part  with  him  who  had  been  their  guide  for  fif 
teen  years.  There  the  matter  was  long  debated, 
till  an  honest  member  of  the  Ipswich  Church 
remarked  ; — "  Brethren,  a  case  in  some  things 
like  to  this,  was  once  that  way  determined, — 
'  We  will  call  the  damsel,  and  inquire  at  her 
mouth :  '  wherefore  I  propose  that  our  teacher 
himself  be  inquired  of,  whether  he  be  inclined  to 
go." 

Mr.  Norton,  who  had  resolved  to  have  no 
responsibility  in  the  business,  was  much  troubled 
at  the  question.  He  answered,  that  if  it  were 
judged  that  as  good  reasons  as  caused  his  removal 
to  America,  now  called  for  his  removal  to  Boston, 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  219 

he  should  resign  himself,  but  could  not  take  an 
active  part  in  the  business.  It  was  at  last  agreed 
to  postpone  a  final  decision,  and  that  meanwhile 
he  should  reside  in  Boston,  and  wait  for  plainer 
intimations  of  the  pleasure  of  Providence.  The 
General  Court,  May  eighteenth,  1653,  ordered  a 
letter  of  thanks  to  the  Ipswich  Church  for  their 
self-denial  in  this  particular. 

When  he  had  been  about  two  years  in  Boston, 
the  excellent  Nathaniel  Rogers,  who  was  pastor 
at  Ipswich,  died  in  gospel  peace.  That  church 
now  loudly  reclaimed  their  teacher  :  and  there 
is  a  tradition  that  he  was  almost  persuaded  to 
return.  But  the  Boston  flock  refused  to  give  up 
the  precious  deposit,  to  which  they  had  become 
exceedingly  attached.  A  large  council  was  con 
vened,  which  advised  the  Ipswich  church  to  grant 
Mr.  Norton  a  fair  dismission,  so  that  in  Boston 
he  might  serve  all  New  England.  Several 
lesser  councils  labored  to  get  this  advice  carried 
into  effect,  but  they  labored  in  vain.  Mr.  Nor 
ton,  wearied  with  the  contentions  of  the  two 
churches  about  his  dismission,  was  on  the  point 
of  dismissing  them  both,  by  carrying  out  his 
former  purpose  of  returning  to  England. 

This  was  during  the  protectorate  of  Cromwell, 
when  the  tide  of  emigration  which  had  been 
forced  this  way  by  hierarchal  persecution,  was 


220  LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

ebbing  back  again  to  the  beloved  mother  country. 
They,  who  were  for  remaining,  were  sorely  dis 
tressed  to  find  themselves  so  much  weakened  by 
these  numerous  departures.     And  when  it  was 
found  that  a  man  so  considerable  as  Mr.  Norton 
was  about  to  abandon   them,  it  was   thought  to 
be    high   time  to    awake.     The    governor   and 
other  magistrates  summoned  a  council  of  twelve 
churches  whose  expenses  were  paid  by  the  colo 
ny,  to  prevent,  if  possible,  so  sad  a  discourage 
ment.     Under  this  potent  influence  the  dispute 
came    to    an   end.     Mr.  Wilson,  the  pastor  of 
Boston,  obtained  the  colleague  he  desired :  and 
the  Boston  church  joyfully  installed  their  teacher 
on  the  twenty-third  of  July,  1656,  after  the  lapse 
of  four  years.     They  had  previously  given  him 
two  hundred  pounds  towards  the  purchase  of  a 
house.     It  appears  that  he  purchased  Governor 
Winthrop's  estate,  called  "  The  Green,"   at  the 
corner  of  Milk  and  Washington   streets ;     and 
which   was   afterwards   given   by  Mr.  Norton's 
widow  to  the  Old  South  church,  to  whom  it  still 
belongs.     The    Ipswich   people    soon   consoled 
themselves  "  by  doing  as  they  had  been   done 
by."     They  called  from   Lynn,  Rev.  Thomas 
Cobbet,  a  minister  of  the  highest  repute. 

Mr.    Norton's    settlement  in  Boston  was  re 
garded  as  a  very  auspicious   event.     Ministers 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  221 

fifty  years  of  age,  were  not  then  considered  as 
old  and  superannuated.  His  former  parishion 
ers  would  often  come  all  the  way  from  Ipswich, 
to  hear  him  preach  at  the  Thursday  lecture. 
He  exerted  a  wide  influence  through  the  country, 
and  visited  the  remotest  settlements  to  assist  in 
settling  ecclesiastical  difficulties.  The  rulers 
also  profited  by  his  wisdom  and  prudence  :  for 
he  counseled  the  councilors.  It  was  mainly 
owing  to  his  discreet  interposition,  that  actual 
hostility  was  prevented  from  breaking  out  between 
our  people,  and  the  Dutch  who  were  settled  at 
Manhadoes. 

It  is  not  known  when  his  first  wife  deceased. 
He  married  Mary  Mason  of  Boston,  on  the  same 
day  in  which  he  was  installed  in  that  place.  It 
does  not  appear  that  he  ever  had  any  children. 
At  any  rate,  there  were  none  who  survived  him. 

He  published  a  treatise  in  1660,  under  the 
title  ; — "  The  Heart  of  New  England  rent  at  the 
Blasphemies  of  the  Present  Generation."  This 
pamphlet  he  prepared  at  the  request  of  the  Leg 
islature.  It  is  a  piteous  invective  against  the 
Quakers,  containing  an  athletic  exposure  of  their 
practices,  and  confutation  of  their  principles. 
According  to  his  account  of  them,  those  old  Fox- 
ian  Quakers  were  as  different  from  the  worthy 
people  who  now  bear  that  name,  as  a  wolf  is  from 
19* 


222  LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

a  sheep.     "  For  the   security  of  the   flock,"  he 
says,  speaking  of  the  law  for  the   imprisonment 
and  banishment  of  the  Quakers,  "  we  pen  up  the 
wolf;  but  a  door  is  purposely  left  open  whereby 
he  may  depart  at  his  pleasure."     On  this  point, 
it  is  justly  remarked  by  Bancroft;— "Prohibiting 
the  arrival  of  Quakers  was  not  persecution  ;  and 
banishment  is  a  term  hardly  to  be   used  of  one 
who  has  not  acquired  a  home.     When  a  pauper 
is  sent  to  his  native   town,  he  is   not  called  an 
exile."*    Our  forefathers  had  an  instinctive  dread 
of  confusion  ;  and  guarded  against  its  approach 
with  a  jealousy,  which,  but  for  its  occasional  ex 
tremes,  must  have  received  the  commendation  of 
all  men  of  sense.     "  Religion,"  said  Mr.  Norton, 
"  admits  of  no  eccentric  motions  !"     To  them,  the 
movements   of  the   Quakers,  those  "  wandering 
stars  "  which  shot  so  madly  from  their  spheres, 
seemed   eccentric   and   portentous    to    the    last 
degree.     They  shuddered  at  the  flight  of  those 
baleful  meteors. 

The  accomplished  historian  already  quoted, 
himself  an  enthusiastic  champion  of  the  utmost 
freedom  of  inquiry  and  action,  has  so  candidly 
stated  the  case,  that  it  would  be  wrong  to  omit 
his  statement  in  this  connection.  "  It  was  in 


*  History  I,  454;5. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  223 

self-defence  that  Puritanism  in  America  began 
those  transient  persecutions  of  which  the  excesses 
shall  find  in  me  no  apologist ;  and  which  yet 
were  no  more  than  a  train  of  mists,  hovering,  of 
an  Autumn  morning,  over  the  channel  of  a 
fine  river,  that  diffused  freshness  and  fertility 
wherever  it  wound.  The  people  did  not  attempt 
to  convert  others,  but  to  protect  themselves  ;  they 
never  punished  opinion  as  such;  they  never 
attempted  to  torture  or  terrify  men  into  ortho 
doxy.  The  history  of  religious  persecution  in 
New  England,  is  simply  this ; — The  Puritans 
established  a  government  in  America  such  as 
the  laws  of  natural  justice  warranted,  and  such 
as  the  statutes  and  common  law  of  England  did 
not  warrant ;  and  that  was  done  by  men  who 
still  acknowledged  the  duty  of  a  limited  allegi 
ance  to  the  parent  State.  The  Episcopalians  had 
declared  themselves  the  enemies  of  the  party, 
and  waged  against  it  a  war  of  extermination ; 
Puritanism  excluded  them  from  its  asylum. 
Roger  Williams,  the  apostle  of  soul-liberty, 
weakened  the  cause  of  civil  independence  by 
impairing  its  unity;  and  he  was  expelled,  even 
though  Massachusetts  always  bore  good  testimony 
to  his  spotless  virtues.  Wheelwright  and  his 
friends,  in  their  zeal  for  strict  Calvinism,  forgot 
their  duty  as  citizens,  and  they  also  were  exiled. 


224  LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

The  Anabaptist,  who  could  not  be  relied  upon  as 
an  ally,  was  guarded  as  a  foe.  The  Quakers 
denounced  the  worship  of  New  England  as  an 
abomination,  and  its  government  as  treason  ;  and 
therefore  they  were  excluded  on  pain  of  death. 
The  fanatic  for  Calvinism  was  a  fanatic  for  lib 
erty  :  and  he  defended  his  creed ;  for,  in  the 
moral  warfare  for  freedom,  his  creed  was  a  part 
of  his  army,  and  his  most  faithful  ally  in  the 
battle."* 

In  the  "  Heart  of  New  England  Rent,"  Mr. 
Norton  contends,  that  originally  this  country 
"  was  a  religious  plantation,  not  a  plantation  for 
trade.  The  profession  of  the  purity  of  doctrine, 
worship  and  discipline,  was  written  on  her  fore 
head."  Hence  he  cries  out  bitterly  against  the 
cruel  aggressions  of  such  as  came  on  purpose  to 
break  up  the  declared  object  of  this  costly  enter 
prise.  He  strongly  asserts,  that  neither  Qua 
kers,  nor  other  heretics,  ought  to  be  punished 
for  their  consciences.  He  even  maintains,  that 
it  is  impossible  to  do  so,  because  there  is  no 
means  of  ascertaining  judicially  what  a  man's 
conscience  is.  The  law,  he  declares,  takes  hold 
only  of  their  outward  acts  ;  and  that  only  when 
they  are  subversive  of  the  public  peace  and 

*  History  I,  463,4. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  225 

established  order  of  the  land.  It  is  on  this 
ground,  that  he  vindicates  the  penalties  inflicted 
upon  the  Quakers  ;  and  warmly  insists  that  they 
were  not  punished  for  their  consciences ;  but  for 
their  factious,  seditious  and  turbulent  proceed 
ings.  Had  the  Worcester  Asylum  been  then  in 
existence,  most  of  the  convicted  Quakers  would, 
no  doubt,  have  been  sent  there  for  appropriate 
treatment.  Such  matters,  like  many  other  points 
of  medical  jurisprudence,  were  not  then  under 
stood  as  well  as  now.  The  world  was  then,  and 
always  had  been,  in  midnight  darkness  on  the 
subject  of  religious  toleration.  In  New  England 
they  had  the  morning  twilight  just  dawning,  in 
which  they  wrere  looking  anxiously  about ;  but 
saw  not  all  things  distinctly.  It  was  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  years  later,  ere  the  daylight 
shone  so  strong  upon  the  piercing  eye  of  Napo 
leon,  that  the  imperious  autocrat  saw  his  way 
clear  to  say ; — "  My  dominion  ends,  where  that 
of  conscience  begins."  His  present  majesty,  the 
king  of  the  French,  seems  to  be  mystified  in  a 
thick  and  unwholesome  fog  which  invests  the 
subject  there.  In  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
entire  religious  freedom  and  equality  has  never 
been  granted  even  to  this  very  day,  except  during 
the  brief  protectorate  of  Cromwell.  Nor  have 
these  just  principles  any  where  obtained  full 


226          LIFE      OF      JOHN      NOftTON. 

acknowledgment,  except  in  this  land,  where  the 
Puritans  introduced  them,  and  prepared  the  way 
for  their  perfect  triumph. 

Before  closing  his  active  and  useful  career, 
Mr.  Norton  performed  one  more  general  service 
for  these  colonies.  At  the  restoration  of  Charles 
II.  in  1660,  it  was  thought  necessary  to  send 
deputies  to  address  him  in  behalf  of  New  Eng 
land.  This  was  a  difficult  and  delicate  mission. 
The  people  felt,  that  they  had  little  to  hope 
from  a  prince  of  Charles'  temper.  They  were 
apprehensive,  that  he  would  despotically  snatch 
away  their  charter,  and  wrest  out  of  their  grasp 
all  the  liberties  they  had  found  and  cherished 
in  this  wilderness.  They  were  solicitous  in  the 
extreme  to  obtain,  if  it  might  be,  some  satisfac 
tory  assurance  upon  a  matter  of  such  vital  inter 
est. 

Mr.  Norton  was  commissioned  to  go  upon 
this  errand  with  Governor  Simon  Bradstreet, 
who  was  called  the  "  venerable  Mordecai  of  his 
country."  In  this  case,  the  honored  commission 
ers  seem  to  have  "  had  greatness  thrust  upon 
them."  They  evidently  shrank  from  the  ap 
pointment,  and  many  tedious  preliminaries  had 
to  be  adjusted.  No  one  could  foresee  in  what 
temper  the  restored  monarch  would  receive 
them.  It  was  feared,  that  the  envoys  of  a 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  227 

people  so  thoroughly  puritanical  would  find  but 
little  favor  in  his  eyes;  and  that  not  improbably, 
fines  and  imprisonment  might  be  the  reward  of 
their  temerity  in  appearing  before  him.  The 
colonial  government  pledged  itself,  as  far  as  it 
could,  to  support  them  to  the  utmost  of  its  power. 
They  were  furnished  with  letters  to  various 
noblemen  of  influence  at  court,  calculated  to 
secure  their  good  offices  with  the  king,  or  to 
deprecate  any  hostile  sentiments.  Among 
others,  there  were  letters  to  lord  viscount  Say 
and  Seal,  and  to  the  earls  of  Clarendon  and 
Manchester.  In  the  instructions  given  to  the 
commissioners,  the  General  Court  manifested 
its  usual  and  commendable  jealousy  of  any  en 
croachment  upon  the  chartered  rights  of  the 
colony.  It  was  said  even  to  these  trusty  messen 
gers  ; — "  You  shall  endeavor  the  establishment 
of  the  rights  and  privileges  we  now  enjoy." — 
"  You  shall  not  engage  us  by  any  act  of  yours 
to  any  thing  which  may  be  prejudicial  to  our 
present  standing,  according  to  patent." — "You 
shall  give  us  a  speedy  and  constant  account  of 
all  your  transactions,  and  what  else  may  be  of 
concernment  to  us."  * 

*  Many  documents  relating  to  this  mission  are  printed  in  Hutch- 
inson's  Collection,  pp.  315, — 380. 


228         LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

There  is  preserved  among  the  Massachusetts 
Records  a  letter  from  both  branches  of  the 
General  Court,  "  to  the  more  ancient  church  of 
Christ  at  Boston."  The  letter  says  ;— "  This 
Court  having,  with  serious  advice  from  the 
reverend  elders,  and  no  small  deliberation,  at 
length  concluded,  for  the  preservation  of  the 
order  of  the  gospel  in  all  the  churches  of  Christ 
here  established,  to  send  for  England  the  rev 
erend,  beloved  and  much  desired  Mr.  John 
Norton  from  amongst  you ;  wherein  we  are 
sufferers  with  yourselves  in  parting  with  so 
worthy  an  instrument  of  spiritual  good,  (al 
though,  we  hope,  but  for  a  time,)  and  cannot 
but  expect,  that  the  same  arguments  which  have 
guided  this  Court  may  also  work  a  readiness  in 
yourselves  to  concur  with  us  herein,  because, 
namely,  the  Lord  hath  need  of  him."  The 
church  is  also  informed,  that  the  Court  has 
taken  order  with  the  reverend  elders  in  the 
Colony  to  assist  the  church,  during  the  absence 
of  its  Teacher.  This  letter  is  dated  the  eleventh 
of  May,  1661.  There  is  another  letter  of  the 
same  date,  addressed  by  the  General  Court  to 
the  ministers  by  whose  "  reverend  advice  and 
counsel  "  the  Court  had  acted  ;  and  requesting 
them  to  assist  in  supplying  the  wants  of  "  the 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  229 

more  ancient  church  of  Christ  in  Boston  where 
of  Mr.  Wilson  is  pastor  ;  "  and  which  is,  "  for 
the  present,  left  destitute  of  so  able  an  *  help  ' 
as  is  the  reverend,  pious,  prudent  and  laborious 
minister  of  Christ  Jesus,  Mr.  John  Norton." 
So  fraternal,  in  those  days,  were  the  relations 
of  "  Moses  and  Aaron  !  " 

The  envoys  sailed  on  the  eleventh  of  Febru 
ary,  1662 ;  having  been  long  delayed  by  Mr. 
Norton's  sickness.  His  place  in  the  pulpit  was 
supplied  during  his  absence  by  the  neighboring 
ministers  in  rotation.  On  arriving  at  Whitehall, 
they  had  an  audience  of  the  king.  They  pre 
sented  an  address  which  plainly  and  frankly 
asserted  the  motives  which  led  to  the  settle 
ment  of  this  country.  It  declared  that  the 
colony  was  undertaken  by  men  who  wished  to 
escape  the  yoke  of  hierarchal  impositions ;  and 
sought  "  liberty  to  walk  in  the  faith  of  the  gos 
pel,  with  all  good  conscience,  according  to  the 
order  of  the  gospel."  This  document  says  ;— 
"We  are  not  seditious  as  to  the  interests  of 
Caesar,  nor  schismatical  as  to  the  matters  of 
religion.  We  distinguish  between  churches 
and  their  impurities."  It  expresses  an  earnest 
desire  to  "  enjoy  divine  worship,  free  from  hu 
man  mixtures,  without  offence  to  God,  or  man, 
VOL.  n.  20 


230         LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

or  their  own  consciences."  For  this,  with 
leave,  but  not  without  tears,  they  departed  from 
their  country,  kindred  and  homes,  and  fled  to 
this  Patmos.  The  reception  of  the  commission 
ers  was  more  favorable  than  they  had  anticipated. 
Charles  treated  them  with  courtesy,  for  he  was 
always  polite  :  and  made  them  fine  promises, 
such  as  he  always  broke,  like  the  other  Stuarts, 
when  convenience  required.  He  agreed  to  con 
firm  the  charter ;  and  granted  an  amnesty  for 
all  political  offences  committed  during  the  late 
disturbances  ;  but  required  certain  large  altera 
tions  in  the  colonial  legislation  and  religious 
practices  under  the  charter. 

The  commissioners  having  most  faithfully 
performed  their  duty,  and  brought  every  influ 
ence  possible  to  bear  in  favor  of  the  Colony, 
returned  in  September  of  the  same  year.  They 
had  gone,  very  reluctantly,  on  a  mission  which 
they  felt  to  be  impracticable  ;  for  they  were 
expected  to  conciliate  the  unfriendly  monarch, 
and  yet  secure  the  independence  of  their  coun 
try.  Their  English  friends  thought  that  they 
had  succeeded  wonderfully  in  both  respects. 
But  the  people  here,  ever  jealous  of  the  liber 
ties  which  had  cost  them  so  dear,  were  always 
discontented  with  their  agents  at  their  first  re- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  231 

turn  from  England.  In  this  case,  many  were 
much  dissatisfied  with  the  faithful  Norton  and 
Bradstreet  for  not  having1  somehow  exacted  from 
a  tyrant,  surrounded  as  he  was  by  their  bitterest 
enemies,  an  unconditional  pledge  that  every 
thing  should  remain  unaltered.  Some  began 
to  cry  out,  that  the  agents  had  "  laid  the  founda 
tion  of  ruin  to  all  our  liberties."  Mr.  Brad- 
street,  in  his  incorruptible  patriotism,  outlived 
for  many  years  these  unreasonable  clamors. 
But  they  embittered  the  short  residue  of  Mr. 
Norton's  days.  It  has  been  supposed,  that  the 
troubles  of  his  too  sensitive  mind  on  this  ac 
count,  hastened  his  death.  But  there  is  good 
reason  to  think,  that  the  dissatisfaction  felt  at 
the  result  of  his  mission  was  neither  general 
nor  deep  enough  to  have  such  an  effect.  Emer 
son  mentions  a  tradition  "  that  even  the  venera 
ble  and  benevolent  Wilson  was  heard  to  say 
that  he  must  have  another  colleague."  But  this 
would  seem  to  be  sufficiently  confuted  by  the 
manner  in  which  that  patriarch,  when  on  his 
death-bed,  three  or  four  years  after,  spoke  of 
Mr.  Norton  ;  as  well  as  by  his  manner  of  men 
tioning  Mrs.  Norton  in  his  will. 

The  truth  is,  that  Mr.  Norton's  constitution, 
worn  out  by  a  life  of  study,  had  been  breaking  up 


232          LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

for  some  time  before.  He  died  about  six  months 
subsequent  to  his  return  from  England,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-seven.  He  passed  the  gates  of  death 
so  easily  and  so  quickly,  as  scarce  to  feel  the 
transit.  It  was  on  the  fifth  of  April,  1663. 
In  the  forenoon  he  was  well,  and  expecting  to 
preach  in  the  afternoon  ;  but  was  taken  with  an 
apoplectic,  fit,  and  shortly  after  expired. 

His  death  filled  Boston  with  such  lamenta 
tions,  as  caused  that  mournful  night  long  to  be 
remembered  ;  and  his  funeral,  which  took  place 
at  the  Thursday  lecture,  was  attended  with 
great  sorrow  and  solemnity.  His  dear  friend, 
Rev.  Richard  Mather,  "wept  over  him  a  sermon 
most  agreeable  to  the  occasion." 

His  old  friends  the  Quakers  did  not  fail  to 
represent  the  sudden  death  of  "  the  chief  priest 
of  Boston,"  as  a  judgment  of  God  upon  him  for 
the  treatise  he  had  published  against  their  delu 
sions.  His  parishioners,  on  the  contrary,  thought 
that,  in  this  case,  it  was  "  sudden  death,  sudden 
glory !  "  The  short-hand  writers  sent  to  the 
press  their  notes  of  his  last  sermons,  three  in 
number.  One  of  them  was  the  election  sermon, 
which  he  had  recently  preached,  having  been 
repeatedly  called  to  the  discharge  of  that  duty. 
The  text  is  Jeremiah  10  :  17,  and  the  title  is 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  233 

"  Sion,  the  Outcast,  healed  of  her  Wounds."  It 
contains  many  excellent  and  seasonable  instruc 
tions  ;  and  also  the  anti-schismatical  assertion 
which  was  usually  made  in  some  form  on  those 
august  occasions,  that  "  in  matters  of  religion, 
we  are  for  reformation,  and  not  for  separation." 
The  second  of  these  sermons  is  the  last  of  his 
Sabbath  performances  ;  it  is  entitled  ; — "  The 
Believer's  Consolation,"  and  is  a  devout  medi 
tation  on  the  heavenly  mansions.  The  third  of 
these  sermons  is  the  last  of  his  Thursday 
lectures  ;  it  is  entitled  ; — "  The  Evangelical 
Worshipper,"  and  goes  to  prove,  that,  in  divine 
worship,  every  thing  must  correspond  with  the 
prescriptions  of  God's  Word.  The  text  is  very 
happily  selected  from  Hebrews  8  :  5 ;  "  See 
that  thou  make  all  things  according  to  the  pat 
tern  showed  to  thee  in  the  mount."  These 
three  discourses,  thus  published  together,  were 
the  death-song  of  the  expiring  swan.  His  affec 
tionate  people  regarded  them,  in  their  beautiful 
phrase,  as  the  falling  mantle  of  the  ascending 
prophet. 

Secretary  Morton,  in  an  obituary  notice  con 
tained  in  his  "  New  England's  Memorial," 
makes  honorable  mention  of  him  whose  depart 
ure  was  thus  lamented.  "  Although  the  church 
of  Boston  in  a  more  special  manner  felt  the 
20* 


234         LIFE      OF      JOHN     NORTON. 

smart  of  this  sudden  blow,  yet  it  reflected  upon 
the  whole  land.     He   was  singularly  endowed 
with  the  tongue  of  the  learned,  enabled  to  speak 
a  word  in  due  season,  not  only  to  the  wearied 
soul,  but  also  a  word  of  counsel  to  a  people  in 
necessity  thereof,  being  not   only  a  wise   stew 
ard  of  the  things  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  also  a  wise 
statesman  ;    so  that  the  whole  land  sustained  a 
great  loss  of  him."     All  the  customary  tokens  of 
respect  were  paid  to  his  memory.     The  letters 
of  his  name    IOHN    NORTON,  were  fondly 
transposed,  till  they  stood  INTO  HONNOR;  where- 
unto  he  had  gone  to  abide.   Not  content  with  this, 
his  anagrammatizing  friend,  Mr.  Wilson,  first 
turned  the  name  into  Latin  form,  I  o  H  A  N  N  E  s 
NORTONUS;    and  then  turned  the   helpless 
letters  over  and  over,  till,  with   clever  success, 
he   brought    them    into    satisfactory    shape,    as 
NONNE  Is  HONORATUS  !     Nor  were  there  want 
ing  some  of  those  uncouth  and  rugged  elegiacs 
which  would  have  made  Quinctilian  "  gasp  and 
stare  ; "    and    doubtless    forced    the    agonized 
Muses  to  muffle  their  unfortunate  ears.     Rev. 
Thomas  Shepard,  of  blessed    memory,  vented 
his  sorrows  in  some  metres,  which  abounded  in 
sincerity  in  inverse  proportion  to  their  want  of 
the  spirit  of  poesy.     We  give  a  few  of  the  least 
unendurable  of  his  rhymes,  those  dried  salt-fish 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  235 

from  Helicon.  Having  compared  Mr.  Norton 
with  the  most  famous  of  the  scholastic  doctors, 
very  much  to  their  disadvantage,  he  says  of  his 
hero ; — 

"  Of  a  more  heavenly  strain  his  notions  were, 
More  pure,  sublime,  scholastical  and  clear, 
More  like  the  apostles  Paul  and  John,  I  wist, 
Was  this  our  Orthodox  Evangelist. 

Among  other  commendations,  he  speaks  of 
him  as  a  father  to  all  the  churches  ; 

"  Zealous  for  order  ;   very  critical 
For  what  was  truly  Congregational." 

The  good  man's  reputation  must  have  been 
formed  of  lasting  material  to  survive  such  ex 
cruciating  praises. 

By  his  last  will  and  testament  it  appears,  that 
Mr.  Norton  left  a  brother  William,  living  at 
Ipswich,  Mass.,  where  he  cultivated  a  large 
farm ;  and  that  he  had  an  aged  mother,  a  broth 
er  Thomas,  and  three  sisters,  Martha,  Mary  and 
Elizabeth,  residing  at  London.  To  the  poor  of 
his  church  he  left  a  bequest  of  ten  pounds.  His 
widow,  who  was  his  second  wife,  as  has  been 
stated,  gave  to  the  Old  South  church  in  Bos 
ton,  during  her  life-time,  most  of  the  valuable 
estate  now  held  by  that  society  ;  and  nearly  all 


236          LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

the  residue,  she  gave,  by  her  will,  after  her 
decease.  There  is  in  the  Probate  Office  an  ac 
count  of  her  funeral  expenses,  which  is  so  singu 
lar,  and  so  illustrates  the  customs  of  those  days, 
that  it  is  inserted  here,  at  the  risk  of  shocking 
the  modern  ideas  of  temperance  and  economy. 

167  7-8,  Jan.  20.     Account  of  Funeral  Charges 

of  Mrs.  Mary  Norton. 
Jan.    20.     51  1-2    gallons    of    best 
Malaga  with  cask  and 
carriage,  at  £10.  13.     £10.  13. 
50  1-2  ells  of  best  broad 
Lutestring    silk  at    10 
s.  ell,  25.    5. 

"  25.  Paid  money  to  Wm.  and 
Joseph  Gridley  for 
opening  the  tomb,  1.  16. 

"  28.  Money  Solomon  Rans- 
ford  for  coffin  and 
plate,  1.  18. 

"      "       Gloves  6  doz.  *pair.  5.  12.  6. 

"      "          do.      2   do.    do.  2. 

Feb.    5.         do.    10    do.  and  3  pair,    10.19.9. 
«     16.         do.    12   do.         6  do.      12.    8. 
«      «          do.     2  do.       10  do.        2.    8.  2. 

73.    0.  5. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  237 

This  enormous  bill  of  seventy-three  pounds 
currency,  amounting-  to  nearly  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars,  contains  but  two  necessary  items, 
not  much  exceeding  twelve  dollars.  The  offer 
ing  of  gloves  and  refreshments  to  the  mourning 
attendants  was  the  usual  practice.  If  each 
receiver  of  a  pair  of  gloves  had  his  share  of  the 
other  articles  provided  for  distribution,  he  would 
have  had  a  strip  of  silk  some  five  inches  wide 
as  a  badge  of  his  grief,  and  about  a  pint  of  Mal 
aga  foft  his  consolation  !  The  disposition  to 
testify  respect  for  the  dead  by  extravagant  and 
stately  funerals  is  much  abated  among  us  ;  and 
it  must  be  owned,  that,  in  this  one  instance,  the 
children,  if  less  loving,  are  more  wise  than 
their  fathers. 

In  his  natural  temper,  Mr.  Norton  was  quick 
and  somewhat  irascible.  Whitefield  used  to 
tell  of  "  grace  grafted  on  a  crab-stock."  And 
truly  those  trees  which  naturally  yield  the 
sourest  and  harshest  fruit ;  when  their  crabbed 
branches  are  pruned  away,  and  they  are  grafted 
with  fairer  scions,  their  fruit  will  often  be  the 
most  abundant  and  the  sweetest.  Such  was  the 
effect  of  the  engrafted  grace  of  God  in  Mr. 
Norton's  soul.  He  was  noted  for  his  affable 
and  winning  behavior,  and  became  one  of  the 
most  amiable  of  men. 


238         LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

Another  natural  infirmity  of  this  good  man 
was  a  strong-  inclination  to  levity.  Some  of  his 
humorous  table-talk  is  on  record;  enough  to 
indicate  the  hilarity  of  his  temper.  A  single 
instance  of  this  may  suffice.  Ann  Hibbens,  an 
unhappy  woman,  whose  husband  had  been  a 
magistrate,  and  a  Boston  merchant  of  note,  and 
who  was  sister  to  Governor  Bellingham,  was 
arraigned  for  witchcraft  in  1656.  She  appears 
to  have  heen  a  sad  termagant.  Her  temper, 
naturally  bad,  was  further  soured  by  her  hus 
band's  losses  in  business  ;  and  after  his  death, 
she  became  so  violent,  as  to  make  herself  ex 
tremely  odious  to  her  neighbors.  She  was  ex 
communicated  from  the  church  for  her  strange 
malevojent  behavior;  which  at  last  provoked 
against  her  the  fatal  charge  under  which  Joan  of 
Arc  was  doomed  to  die.  The  truth  of  the  ac 
cusation  was  as  much  disputed  in  the  case  of 
Ann  Hibbens  as  in  that  of  the  "Maid  of  Or 
leans."  The  jury  brought  her  in  guilty;  the 
magistrates  set  aside  the  verdict ;  but  the  Depu 
ties  in  the  General  Court  confirmed  it,  and  she 
was  executed  accordingly.  She  was  the  second 
person  who  died  under  this  charge  in  Massa 
chusetts.  Mr.  Beach,  a  minister  in  Jamaica,  in 
a  letter  to  Dr.  Increase  Mather,  gives  the  fol- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  239 

lowing  relation  ; — "  You  may  remember  what 
I  have  sometimes  told  you  your  famous  Mr. 
Norton  once  said  at  his  own  table,  before  Mr. 
Wilson  the  pastor,  elder  Penn,  and  myself  and 
wife,  and  others,  who  had  the  honor  to  be  his 
guests  : — That  one  of  your  magistrates'  wives, 
as  I  remember,  was  hanged  for  a  witch  only  for 
having  more  wit  than  her  neighbors.  It  was 
his  very  expression  ;  she  having,  as  he  explain 
ed  it,  unhappily  guessed  that  two  of  her  perse 
cutors,  whom  she  saw  talking  in  the  street, 
were  talking  of  her.  Which  proving  true,  cost 
her  her  life,  notwithstanding  all  he  could  do  to 
the  contrary,  as  he  himself  told  us." 

It  must  be  owned,  that  Mr.  Norton's  taunting 
expression,  on  this  festive  occasion  in  the  pres 
ence  of  his  colleagues,  the  pastor  and  the  ruling 
elder,  and  other  guests  of  consideration,  had  in 
it  more  of  wit  than  of  fun.  It  is  likely  that  he 
had  the  laugh  mostly  to  himself.  But  it  is 
honorable  to  his  independence  and  soundness  of 
judgment,  that  he  withstood  the  popular  preju 
dices  on  this  exciting  point.  One  of  our  histori 
ans  has  said  ; — "  Witchcraft  had  not  been  made 
the  subject  of  skeptical  consideration ;  and  in 
the  years  in  which  Scotland  sacrificed  heca 
tombs  to  the  delusion,  there  were  three  victims 


240          LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

in  New  England.  Dark  crimes,  that  seemed 
without  a  motive,  may  have  been  pursued  under 
that  name  ;  I  find  one  record  of  a  trial  for  witch 
craft,  where  the  prisoner  was  proved  a  murder 
ess."^ 

During  the  last  few  years  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  there  was  an  epidemic  on  the  minds  of 
the  Massachusetts  colonists,  during  which  nine 
teen  persons  were  executed  for  witchcraft,  and 
one  was  pressed  to  death  for  refusing  to  plead 
to  the  indictment.  We  cannot  sufficiently  de 
plore  this  delusion  by  which  our  forefathers 
•were  hurried  to  such  shedding  of  innocent 
blood.  But  it  is  astonishing  to  observe  how 
much  reproach  has  been  heaped  upon  them,  as 
if,  in  this  particular  fault,  they  were  sinners 
above  all  who  dwelt  on  the  earth  in  their  day. 
These  reproaches  can  only  come  from  persons 
of  very  limited  information  on  this  subject.  Any 
one  who  wishes  to  see  the  literature  of  the  sub 
ject,  may  find  the  most  of  it  collected  by  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  in  his  work  on  Demonology. 
Such  local  delusions  were  very  common  in  that 
age.  During  the  seventeenth  century,  many 
thousands  were  put  to  death  in  England  for 

*  Bancroft.    Hist.  I.  465. 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  241 

alledged  witchcraft.  "  In  Scotland,  during  the 
last  forty  years  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  ex 
ecutions  were  not  fewer  than  seventeen  thou 
sand  !  "  *  About  the  time  of  what  is  called  the 
"  Salem  Witchcraft,"  there  was  another  very 
similar,  but  more  destructive  excitement  in 
Sweden.  During  that  century,  reputed  witches 
perished  by  thousands  in  France,  and  the  same 
took  place  in  the  other  European  States,  both 
Protestant^ and  Romanist.  Perhaps  in  no  civil 
ized  country  were  there  so  few  victims  as  in 
New  England,  where  there  were  no  executions 
later  than  ]692  ;  and  in  some  of  whose  colonies 
there  were  never  any  sufferers  of  the  sort.  The 
English  statute  against  witchcraft,  enacted  un 
der  James  I.,  in  1603,  when  the  great  philoso 
pher,  lord  Bacon,  was  a  member  of  the  house  of 
commons,  was  not  repealed  by  act  of  Parliament 
till  1736,  not  much  above  a  century  since.  The 
last  judicial  execution  in  England  was  at  Hun 
tingdon,  in  1716;  the  last  in  Scotland  was  at 
Dornoch,  Sutherlandshire,  in  1622 ;  some  of 
the  last  that  ever  took  place  in  a  civilized  coun 
try  were  at  Wurtzburg,  Bavaria,  in  1749,  and 
in  the  Swiss  canton  of  Glarus,  in  1780,  much 


*  Edinburgh  Review,  CLXI.  p.  128.   See  also  Encyclopedia  Ameri 
cana,  article  "  Witchcraft." 
VOL.    II.       21 


242          LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

less  than  a  hundred  years  ago.  All  these,  and 
many  others,  occurred  long  after  such  sorrowful 
scenes  had  wholly  ceased  in  New  England. 
Strange  as  it  may  seem  to  some  who  have 
listened  all  their  days  to  calumnies  on  this  sub 
ject,  it  is  nevertheless  true,  that  Massachusetts 
was  the  first  civilized  government  TO  ABOLISH 

THE     PRACTICE     OF    EXECUTION     FOR    WITCHCRAFT. 

In  this,  as  in  so  many  other  respects,  that  noble 
commonwealth  has  led  the  way,  and  strode 
foremost  in  the  path  of  reform  ! 

It  has  been  observed  that  Mr.  Norton  could 
unbend  his  bow  of  steel ;  and  relax  the  tension 
of  his  laborious  mind  amid  the  cheerfulness  of 
social  intercourse.  This  has  been  the  more 
willingly  mentioned,  because  some  who  have 
considered  his  deportment  only  when  under  ex 
treme  perplexity  and  trouble  have  termed  him 
"  the  melancholic  Norton."  This  notion  is  too 
commonly  extended  to  all  the  Puritans.  It  is 
true,  that,  as  compared  with  a  vain  and  frivolous 
world,  they  were  serious  and  sedate.  If  deep 
religious  meditation  and  experience  had  not 
made  them  sober  and  grave  in  their  ordinary 
deportment,  they  had  enough  to  make  them  so 
in  the  pains,  perils  and  privations  with  which 
they  were  ever  conversant.  But  it  is  a  great 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  243 

mistake,  to  suppose  that  they  never  had  their 
seasons  of  relaxation.  They  had  high  social 
enjoyments,  and  knew  how  to  indulge  a  becom 
ing  cheerfulness.  It  is  a  mere  prejudice  to  con 
ceive  of  them  only  according  to  those  caricatures 
of  "the  godly,"  which  the  profane  cavaliers 
were  fond  of  drawing.  Their  enemies  loved  to 
depict  them  as  gloomy  and  unsocial  beings, 
mortally  opposed  to  the  courtesies,  refinements 
and  endearments  of  life.  We  have  too  long 
been  told  of  their  grim  visages  and  sour  aspect ; 
as  if  "  hanging  out  a  devil  in  their  faces,  were 
a  sign  that  an  angel  dwelt  within."  Far  differ 
ent  was  the  truth  !  They  were  men  of  the 
most  generous  sympathies,  and  the  most  en 
larged  public  spirit.  And  their  women  were 
patterns  unsurpassed  of  conjugal  tenderness  and 
maternal  love.  How  honorable  it  is  to  the  fe 
male  character  in  that  day,  "  that  their  sensi 
bility  was  not  greater  than  their  fortitude." 
They  could  act,  as  well  as  pray  ;  they  could 
endure,  as  well  as  wreep.  If  their  affections 
were  tremulous,  they  were  also  muscular.  How 
sweet  and  precious  is  their  memory,  embalmed 
in  the  spices  of  piety  and  goodness  ! 

After  what  has  been  said  of  Mr.  Norton,  it  is 
needless  to  dilate  upon  his   learning.     He  was 


244          LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

not  only  a  skillful  linguist,  but  a  universal 
scholar.  But  all  that  he  gained  from  secular 
literature  he  consecrated,  by  applying  it  to  the 
adornment  and  illustration  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
cross.  It  was  with  the  spoils  of  the  Egyptians, 
that  Moses  enriched  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord. 
President  Stiles,  no  incompetent  judge  of  such 
things,  ranks  Mr.  Norton  in  the  first  quaternion 
of  the  ancient  divines  of  New  England,  who 
were  "  equal  to  the  first  characters  in  theology, 
in  all  Christendom,  and  in  all  ages." 

Of  the  character  of  his  daily  religious  experi 
ence  we  are  not  so  fully  informed,  as  we  are  in 
regard  to  many  of  his  coevals.  That  was  "  an 
age  of  diaries  ;  "  and  he,  like  others,  kept  one  of 
those  diurnal  transcripts  of  the  frames  of  his 
mind.  It  is  not  known  to  be  in  existence.  Dr. 
Increase  Mather,  who  was  for  several  years  his 
pupil,  and  who  greatly  loved  and  honored  him, 
had  seen  it,  and  gives  this  testimony  to  his  ven 
erated  teacher.  "  He  was  much  in  prayer  ;  he 
would  very  often  spend  whole  days  in  prayer, 
with  fasting  before  the  Lord  alone  in  his  study. 
He  kept  a  strict  daily  watch  over  his  own  heart. 
He  was  an  hard  student.  He  took  notice  in  a 
private  dairy,  how  he  spent  his  time  every  day. 
If  he  found  himself  not  so  much  inclined  to  dili- 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  245 

gence  and  study  as  at  some  other  times,  he 
would  reflect  on  his  heart  and  ways,  lest  haply 
some  unobserved  sin  should  provoke  the  Lord  to 
give  him  up  to  a  slothful,  listless  frame  of  spirit. 
In  his  diary,  he  would  sometimes  have  these 
words  ; — ' '  Leve  desiderium  ad  studendum :  for- 
san  ex  peccato  admisso."  * 

As  a  part  of  the  fruit  of  his  labors,  he  left 
some  writings  which  he  designed  for  the  press 
if  his  life  had  been  prolonged.  The  principal 
work  is  a  large  "  Body  of  Divinity  "  preserved 
among  the  manuscripts  of  the  Massachusetts 
Historical  Society. 

As  a  preacher,  he  was  remarkable  for  that 
"  copious  eloquence,  which  is  equally  captivat 
ing  to  the  scholar  and  to  the  unlettered  Christ 
ian."  But  he  is  even  more  celebrated  for  his 
extraordinary  gift  in  prayer.  His  whole  soul 
was  let  loose  in  the  public  devotions,  and  swept 
along  in  a  torrent  of  emotion.  His  hearers 
were  carried  away  by  these  overflowings  of  the 
fullness  of  his  heart.  The  aged  magistrates  and 
the  men  of  cultivated  mind,  would  unite  in  his 
supplications  above  an  hour  together,  with  un 
flagging  interest ;  transported,  in  a  manner,  by 

*  "  Slight  inclination  to  stucty  :  owing  perhaps  to  allowed  sin." 

21* 


246          LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON. 

the  vast  variety,  the  fitness,  and  the  fervency  of 
his  petitions.  One  godly  man  would  ordinarily 
travel  on  foot  from  Ipswich  to  Boston,  which 
was  then  a  journey  of  thirty  miles,  merely  to 
attend  the  Thursday  lecture  in  the  First  church. 
And  if  any  notice  was  taken  of  his  singular 
perseverance,  he  would  say  ; — "  It  is  worth  a 
great  journey,  to  be  a  partaker  in  one  of  Mr. 
Norton's  prayers."  Nor  did  this  man  of  prayer 
plead  with  God  in  vain.  His  ministry  was 
greatly  blessed :  and  the  multitudes  converted 
to  God  by  means  of  his  labors,  are  the  jewels  of 
his  crown.  Long  has  he  slept  in  silence  with 
his  flock.  Their  mingled  dust  reposes  together 
in  their  earthy  bed.  What  an  awakening  awaits 
them  !  How  joyously  that  clustered  band  shall 
assemble  around  their  pastor  in  the  destined 
morning  when  their  slumbers  shall  be  broken  by 
the  welcome  voice  of  the  Son  of  Man  ! 

But  their  departed  spirits  are  now  with 
Christ.  Ere  we  were  born,  our  pilgrim  sires, 
who  found,  and  cleared  for  us  the  good  old 
paths,  which  for  ages  had  been  forsaken,  and 
overgrown,  and  obstructed; — our  fathers,  whose 
hallowed  memory  must  be  our  shame  and  con 
demnation  if  we  forsake  those  paths  again  ; — 
our  fathers,  sainted  and  made  perfect,  have  long 


LIFE      OF      JOHN      NORTON.  247 


been  blest  with  Jesus.  They  have  sung  the 
victor's  song.  They  have  been  harping  with 
their  harps  of  gold.  They  have  mingled  in  the 
raptured  chorus  of  angelic  praise.  They  have 
lost  themselves  in  the  ecstasy  of  those  mighty 
thunderings  rolling  evermore  their  tuneful  peals. 
The  anthem  is  like  "  the  voice  of  many  waters  :" 
and  the  undulations  of  that  ever-rising  tide  shall 
forever  swell  and  break,  like  the  booming  bil 
lows  of  the  resounding  sea. 


The,  following  is  a  list  of  John  Norton's  printed  works: 

1.  A  Latin  letter  to  John  Dury  on  the  pacification  of  the  Protestant 
Churches,  signed  by  nearly  all  the  New  England  ministers. 

2.  Responsio  ad  totum  Quaestionum  Syllogen  a  clarissimo  viro 
dom.  Gul.  Apollonio  propositam,  ad  componendas  controversias  in 
Anglia.    Lond.  8vo.  1643. 

3.  A  Discussion  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  the  questions 
about  his  righteousness  active    and  passive,  and  the  imputation 
thereof,  in  answer  to  a  dialogue  of  Mr.  Pinchin.   Lond.  12mo.  1653  :~ 
written  at  the  request  of  the  General  Court. 

4.  The  Orthodox  Evangelist,  or  a  treatise  wherein  many  great 
evangelical  truths  are  briefly  discussed.    Lond.  4to.  1654. 

5.  Election  Sermon.     1657. 

6.  The  Life  of  Mr.  Cotton.     1655.    A  very  small  quarto. 

7.  The  Heart  of  New  England  Rent  by  the  Blasphemies  of  the 


248         LIFE      OF     JOHN     NORTON. 

present  Generation :  a  treatise  concerning  the  doctrine  of  the  Quakers, 
by  the  desire  of  the  General  Court.    8vo.  1660. 

8.  Election  Sermon.    1661. 

9.  A  Catechism.    Date  unknown. 

10.  Three  choice  and  profitable  sermons  on  several  texts,  being  the 
last  sennons,  which  he  preached  at  the  election,  at  the  Thursday 
lecture,  and  on  the  Sabbath.    Small  quarto.    1664. 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  DAVENPORT. 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  DAVENPOIIT. 


IT  is  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  human  mind,  that 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments  are  so  much 
occupied  with  narrative  and  chronicle.  No  later 
history  is  so  instructive  as  that  of  the  Church 
and  its  chief  members.  Ecclesiastical  history, 
including  religious  biography,  is  theology  taught 
by  example,  and  is  the  most  impressive  and 
profitable  teaching.  "  It  is  velvet  study,  and 
recreation  work." 

The  early  history  of  New  England  and  its 
settlers  is  a  choice  part  of  this  fruitful  field.  It 
was  to  "  raise  up  the  foundations  of  many  gen 
erations,"  that  they  came  to  these  "  old  waste 
places,"  which  from  time  immemorial  had  lain 
desolate  and  almost  untrodden.  Scarce  could 
these  wilds  be  said  to  be  peopled  by  the  thin  and 
scattered  bands  which  roamed  them  at  random. 
Of  the  savage  inhabitants  it  was  said,  that  they 
were  never  away  from  home  :  for  one  spot  was 
as  much  home  to  them  as  another,  even  where 
the  wigwam  chanced  for  the  time  to  be  pitched. 

Here,  in  this  vast,  vacant  domicil,  the   Puri- 


252     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

tans  toiled  at  their  foundation  work.  Their  great 
right-angled  corner-stone,  massive  and  moveless, 
was  the  Bible.  On  this  firm  basis  they  reared 
amain  their  spiritual  masonry.  They  were  for 
strong  abutment  work  to  begin  with.  It  was  to 
last  for  many  generations.  And  so,  amid  the 
old  waste  places,  they  builded  up  their  social 
fabric  of  imperishable  minds,  cemented  with  im 
perishable  truth.  And  the  stately  structure  rose 
in  fair  proportions,  reared 

"  With  pyramids  and  towers, 
From  diamond  quarries  hewn  and  rocks  of  gold.  " 

Among  these  "  wise  master-builders,"  John 
Davenport  was  one  of  chief  renown.  We  now 
propose  to  give  some  account  of  him,  as  one  of 
the  founders  of  our  political  and  religious  insti 
tutions.  His  reputation  does  not  rest  upon  feats 
of  arms  or  military  prowess.  But,  as  "  a  good 
soldier  of  Jesus  Christ,"  he  endured  much 
hardness,  waged  many  a  hard-fought  contest, 
and  won  many  a  righteous  conquest.  For,  as 
Milton  has  grandly  said, 

"  Peace  hath  her  victories, 
No  less  than  war." 

Mr.  Davenport  was  born  at  Coventry,  in  Eng 
land,  in  the  year  1597.  He  was  the  child  of 
worthy  and  respectable  parents.  His  father, 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.     253 

who  was  at  one  time  mayor  of  that  ancient  city, 
belonged  to  a  family  of  good  repute  in  the  county 
of  Chester.  He  had  a  pious  mother,  "  who,  hav 
ing  lived  just  long  enough  to  devote  him,  as 
Hannah  did  her  Samuel,  unto  the  service  of  the 
sanctuary,  left  him  under  the  more  immediate 
care  of  Heaven  to  fit  him  for  that  service."  And 
gracious  Heaven  accepted  the  charge  of  this 
child  of  the  covenant.  The  mother's  dying 
prayer  is  the  infant's  best  legacy.  She  follows 
the  prayer  to  heaven  with  such  speed,  that  it  is 
doubtful  which  enters  first.  Let  not  such  little 
ones  be  accounted  of  as  orphanized  or  forlorn. 
They  have  a  shepherd  to  feed,  and  a  fold  to 
guard  them.  As  one  of  the  old  puritan  divines 
has  said  ; — "  Jesus  opens  to  them  his  arms  and 
the  bosom  of  his  Church,  to  warm  them  into 
spiritual  life  to  be  manifested  in  due  time."  * 

The  mother's  last  prayer  was  so  effectually 
answered,  that  the  child  gave  evidence  of  the 
grace  of  God  ere  he  was  sent  to  the  university, 
and  lived  all  his  days  a  devout  and  conscien 
tious  life,  without  one  blemish  left  on  record 
against  him. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  had  made  great 

*  J.  Angler,  1652. 

VOL.  IT.       22 


254     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

proficiency  in  his  studies,  and  was  admitted  to 
Brazen-Nose  College  at  Oxford,  in  1611.  Here 
he  addicted  himself  to  the  closest  mental  appli 
cation,  and  formed  those  habits  of  intense  and 
protracted  study  which  he  maintained  through 
life.  The  vigorous  buddings  of  his  youth  de 
cidedly  indicated  "  the  growth  and  greatness  of 
his  honorable  age."  At  that  seat  of  science  he 
remained  about  five  years  :  but  left  it,  soon  after 
taking  his  first  degree,  to  enter,  young  as  he 
was,  upon  the  active  duties  of  that  ministry,  to 
which  he  had  been  consecrated  by  his  mother's 
expiring  breath. 

He  appears  to  have  officiated  at  first  as  chap 
lain  at  Hilton  castle,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Durham.  In  this  sort  of  duty  many  of  the 
most  distinguished  divines  of  that  day  began 
their  ministrations.  When  he  was  nineteen 
years  of  age,  he  was  called  to  London,  where  he 
labored,  at  first,  as  assistant  to  another  clergy 
man;  but  was,  soon  after,  made  vicar  of  St. 
Stephen's  Church,  in  Coleman  street. 

One  of  his  parishioners  here  was  Theophilus 
Eaton,  who,  though  somewhat  older  than  Dav 
enport,  was  his  fellow-townsman  and  the  friend 
of  his  childhood.  Eaton's  father  was  one  of  the 
ministers  of  Coventry,  where  Davenport's  father 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.      255 

was  chief  civic  magistrate.  Eaton,  declining  to 
enter  the  ministry  to  which  he  had  been  urged 
by  his  friends,  became  a  substantial  and  suc 
cessful  London  merchant.  It  is  probable  that 
Eaton's  influence  was  active  in  bringing  his 
early  friend,  the  youthful  preacher,  to  the  great 
metropolis.  From  that  time  they  lived  in  the 
closest  intimacy,  and  afforded  a  lovely  example 
of  religious  friendship.  Together  they  came  to 
these  shores,  together  they  settled  the  New 
Haven  colony,  where  they  presided  for  many 
years,  the  one  as  governor,  and  the  other  as 
pastor,  over  the  rising  fortunes  of  that  commu 
nity.  The  ties  which  united  them  are  un 
broken  ; 

'  Bonds,  which  defying  still  all  Fortune's  power, 
Time  could  not  loosen,  nor  could  Death  divide.' 

Blessed  is  the  man  who  has  even  one  such  tried 
and  trusted  confidant.  He  can  never  be  wholly 
wretched. 

'  True  happiness 

Consists  not  in  the  multitude  of  friends, 
But  in  the  worth  and  choice.' 

Mr.  Davenport's  youthfulness  gave  some 
celebrity  to  his  early  ministry,  to  which  his  high 
accomplishments  as  a  preacher  conduced  still 
more.  About  this  time  too,  the  city  of  London 


256     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

was  visited  by  a  dreadful  plague,  which  swept 
away  its  victims  with  ruthless  rapidity.  While 
many  of  the  pastors  forsook  their  flocks,  and 
fled  from  the  wasting  pestilence,  the  young 
vicar  of  St.  Stephen's  continued  to  watch  over 
his  charge,  and  courageously  visited  the  af 
flicted  and  the  dying  with  the  consolations  of 
the  gospel.  His  Christian  fidelity  raised  him  to 
notice  and  to  high  esteem. 

As  Mr.  Davenport  "  sowed  beside  all  waters," 
he,  by  the  grace  of  God,  laid  the  Baptist  denom 
ination  under  some  obligation ;  as  being,  about 
this  time,  the  means  of  the  conversion  of  Wil 
liam  KifFen,  who  afterwards  became  a  minister 
of  note  in  that  communion. 

Although  removed  from  the  University,  and 
burdened  with  the  care  of  a  great  parish,  he 
intermitted  none  of  the  studies  needful  to  a 
"  universal  scholar."  He  went  to  Oxford  in 
162-5,  and  passed  the  customary  trials  with 
much  approbation  ;  receiving  at  the  same  time 
the  degrees  of  Master  of  Arts,  and  of  Bachelor 
in  Divinity.  He  continued  all  his  days  to  be  an 
indefatigable  scholar.  With  him,  "the  mid 
night  lamp  "  was  no  figure  of  speech,  but  a 
customary  matter  of  fact.  The  habit  of  late 
studies,  which  has  proved  fatal  to  so  many 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.      257 

others,  appears  in  him  to  have  had  no  injurious 
effect. 

He  bestowed  great  care  upon  the  preparation 
of  his  sermons,  writing  them  out  more  fully 
than  was  usual  with  the  ministers  of  his  day, 
and  then  enlarging  in  the  delivery.  In  his 
manner  of  speaking  was  combined  a  calm 
gravity  with  an  intense  earnestness,  which 
fixed  the  attention  of  his  hearers  in  an  extraor 
dinary  manner.  His  veriest  enemies  were  con 
strained  to  own  that  he  was  "  the  prince  of 
preachers."  Indeed  one  of  his  friends  has  said, 
that  "  he  was  worthy  to  be  a  preacher  to 
princes." 

During  his  ministry  in  London,  he  was 
"acquainted  with  great  men,  and  great  things, 
and  was  great  himself,  and  had  a  great  fame 
abroad  in  the  world."  Some  of  the  most  dis- 
tino-uished  men  around  him  were  his  intimate 

O 

friends.  Of  these  we  may  mention  Dr.  John 
Preston,  Master  of  Emmanuel  College,  Cam 
bridge.  His  popularity  as  a  teacher  was  such, 
that  Fuller  calls  him  the  greatest  pupil-monger 
ever  known  in  England.  This  man,  a  learned 
theologian,  and  most  eloquent  preacher,  was 
also  a  deep  politician.  James  I.  made  him 
chaplain  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  to  himself; 
22* 


25S     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

and  urged  upon  him  the  rich  bishopric  of  Glou 
cester.     On    the   death  of   James,  Dr.  Preston 
rode  up  to  London  in  a  close  coach  with  the 
young   king   and   the    Duke    of    Buckingham. 
He  was  again  offered  a  bishopric,  and  the  office 
of  Lord-Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal,  which  was 
the  highest  office  in  the  State,  and  entitled  the 
holder  to  preside  in  the  house  of  peers.     These 
tempting   lures  were   offered,    in  the   hopes  of 
bringing  over  the  puritan  party  to  the    king's 
side   by  means  of  Dr.  Preston's  vast   influence. 
But  the  good  man  was  not  to  be  bought.     Here 
was  a  man  with  a  conscience.     He  held  fast  his 
integrity  :  choosing   to   bear  the  frown  of  the 
tyrant,  and  the  scoffs  of  minions,  and  the  perse 
cution  of  hierarchs,  rather  than  swerve  from  his 
integrity,    or   be    enticed   from   his    principles. 
Before  he  died,  which  was  in  1628,  this  cele 
brated  man  showed  his  confidence  in  the  young 
vicar  of  St.  Stephen's,  by  leaving  his  writings 
to  be  published  under  Mr.  Davenport's  care  ;  by 
whom,  accordingly  they  were  edited. 

A  year  or  two  before  Dr.  Preston's  death,  and 
while  he  was  chief  manager  of  the  affairs  of  the 
Puritans,  there  was  an  association  formed,  about 
the  year  1626,  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  with 
an  able  ministry  such  parts  of  England  as  were 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.     259 


destitute.  The  greater  part  of  the  church  liv 
ings  were  in  the  hands  of  men,  who  pocketed 
the  profits  without  discharging-  the  duties  of 
their  sacred  office.  These  duties  were  usually 
delegated  to  miserable  starvelings,  hired  at  the 
very  shabbiest  wages,  incapable  of  preaching, 
and  whose  labors  extended  only  to  the  reading 
of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  sometimes 
of  a  printed  homily.  This  was  all  the  spiritual 
instruction  provided  for  many,  even  of  the 
largest,  parishes.  The  ministry  was  thus  brought 
into  contempt,  religion  degraded  into  a  merce 
nary  affair,  and  the  souls  of  the  people  pined 
under  a  famine  of  the  Word  of  God. 

The  case  was  made  still  worse  by  what  are 
called  "lay-impropriations."  By  the  laws  of 
the  land,  one  tenth  part  of  all  the  annual  pro 
ducts  of  the  soil  belongs  to  the  established 
Church.  These  tithes  should,  properly,  be  paid 
to  the  rector  of  the  parish.  But  in  the  popish 
times,  when  the  country  abounded  in  monas 
teries,  the  tithes  of  very  many  of  the  parishes 
were  appropriated  to  the  support  of  different 
monastic  establishments.  In  such  cases  the 
monastery  was  bound  to  furnish  a  priest  to  serve 
the  parish,  who  as  he  acted  vicariously,  in  their 
behalf,  was  called  the  vicar.  The  tithes,  after 


260     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

paying  the  vicar  his  stipend,  went  to  increase 
the  wealth  of  the  monastery.  When  the  con 
ventual  establishments  were  suppressed  by 
Henry  VIII.,  he  scattered  their  riches  among 
his  courtiers  and  satellites.  Among  the  rest, 
these  appropriated  tithes  became  the  property  of 
laymen,  and  are  called  "  lay-impropriations  :  " — 
and  very  gross  improprieties  they  are  !  This 
enormous  abuse,  and  perversion  of  funds,  con 
tinues  to  the  present  time.  Many  of  the 
wealthiest  noblemen  and  commoners  of  England 
luxuriate  in  these  spoils  of  the  Church,  spoils 
which  did  not  originally  belong  even  to  the 
Church  by  any  law  of  Christ,  or  any  righteous 
ordinance  of  man's  enacting.  Lay-impropria 
tions  are  bought  and  sold,  like  any  other  species 
of  property.  The  lay-owner  grasps  the  revenues 
wrested  from  the  Church,  and  doles  out  some 
pittance  thereof  to  his  clerical  vicar ;  who  in  his 
turn,  perhaps,  squeezes  out  a  paltry  modicum  to 
some  lean  and  hungry  curate  on  whom  it  de 
volves  to  feed  the  flock  as  well  as  he  may.  The 
people,  all  the  while,  have  no  voice  in  the 
matter,  and  no  privilege  but  that  of  paying  over 
their  money,  whether  they  conform  or  dissent, 
to  men  who  render  not  the  slightest  equivalent. 
To  say  nothing  of  the  atrocious  injustice  of 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.      261 

this  system,  it  is  evident  that  its  tendency  must 
be  to  depress  the  working-clergy,  and  to  consign 
their  duties  to  men  incompetent,  and  of  the 
lowest  order  of  qualifications.  It  occurred  to  the 
Puritans  in  Dr.  Preston's  time,  to  apply  a 
remedy  to  this  shameful  state  of  things.  A 
fund  was  raised  by  voluntary  contribution  for 
the  purchase  of  as  many  of  these  lay-impropria- 
tions  as  possible.  The  income  of  them  was  to 
be  expended  in  the  support  of  preachers  called 
lecturers,  who  were  to  preach  statedly  in  those 
parish-churches  where  the  incompetency  of  the 
minister  in  charge  made  such  assistance  desir 
able.  It  was  a  sort  of  home-missionary  society. 
It  met  with  very  great  favor,  so  that  in  a  short 
time  above  six  thousand  pounds  were  collected, 
and  invested  in  the  purchase  of  thirteen  impro- 
priations.  It  seemed  as  though  this  association 
in  no  long  period  would  be  able  to  buy  in  all 
this  description  of  property,  and  restore  it  to 
those  religious  uses  from  which  it  had  been  so 
scandalously  alienated. 

But  as  all  the  lecturers  employed  by  this 
association  were  zealous  Puritans,  the  persecut 
ing  party  soon  took  the  alarm.  Dr.  Heylin,  one 
of  Laud's  sycophantic  underlings,  raised  a  pro 
digious  panic :  and  it  was  not  long  before  the 


262     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

trustees  who  conducted  the  business,  or,  as  they 
were  called,  the  "  feoffees  in  trust,"  found  them 
selves  arraigned  before  the  Court  of  Exchequer. 
The  feoffees  were  twelve  in  number  :  four  of 
them  clergymen,  of  whom  our  Mr.  Davenport 
was  one ;  four  of  them  were  lawyers,  of  whom 
one  was  a  king's  sergeant ;  and  four  of  them 
were  citizens,  one  of  whom  was  the  Lord  Mayor 
of  London.  At  the  instigation  of  attorney-gen 
eral  Noy,  the  Exchequer  condemned  the  asso 
ciation  as  dangerous  and  illegal ;  confiscated  to 
the  king's  use  the  whole  of  the  property  it  had 
acquired;  and  referred  the  punishment  of  the 
feoffees,  as  criminals,  to  that  infamous  tribunal 
the  star  chamber."*  The  unpopularity  of  the 
prosecution,  however,  prevented  the  matter  from 
being  carried  any  further  :  and  Mr.  Davenport 
and  his  associates  in  this  pious  and  laudable 
undertaking,  after  suffering  much  anxiety,  were 
permitted  to  escape  the  fines  and  other  penalties 
with  which  they  had  been  threatened. 

On  this  afflictive  occasion,  Mr.  Davenport 
wrote  the  following  passages  in  his  great 
Bible  ;— 

"Feb.  11,  1632.    The  business  of  the  feoffees 

*  Hanbury's  Hist.  Memorials.    Vol.  I.,  p.  470-2. 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.     263 

being  to  be  heard  the  third  time  at  the  Ex 
chequer,  I  prayed  earnestly  that  God  would 
assist  our  counselors  in  opening  the  case,  and 
be  pleased  to  grant,  that  they  might  get  no 
advantage  against  us,  to  punish  us  as  evil  doers; 
promising  to  observe  what  answer  he  gave. 
Which,  seeing  he  hath  graciously  done,  and  de 
livered  me  from  the  thing  I  feared,  I  record  to 
these  ends  ; — 

"  1.     To  be  more  industrious  in  my  family. 

"2.     To  check  my  unthankfulness. 

"  3.     To  quicken  myself  to  thankfulness. 

"  4.  To  awaken  myself  to  more  watchfulness 
for  the  time  to  come,  in  remembrance  of  his 
mercy. 

"Which  I  beseech  the  Lord  to  grant;  upon 
whose  faithfulness  in  his  covenant,  I  cast  myself 
to  be  made  faithful  in  my  covenant. 

"JoHN  DAVENPORTE."^ 

In  the  year  1631,  he  was  convened  before 
bishop  Laud,  and  subjected  to  trouble  and  ex 
pense,  on  the  ground  of  his  Puritanism.  He 
was  also  convened  before  the  High  Commission 
Court  as  a  notorious  delinquent,  though  in  a 
matter  very  honorable  to  him.  The  Queen  of 

*  He  always  spelled  his  name  with  this  final  letter. 


264    LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

Bohemia,  the  king's   sister,  had   earnestly  so 
licited  Charles,  that  collections  might  be  made 
throughout  England  in  aid  of  the  poor  banished 
ministers  of  the  Palatinate  of  the  Rhine.     This 
part  of  her  husband's  dominions  had  been  sub 
jugated  in  a  religious  war  by  the  papist  emperor 
of  Germany  :  and  the  ministers  were  driven  into 
exile.     The   king   was    disposed  to    grant   the 
desired    brief   for    the    collections  :    but    Laud 
interposed    to    prevent    it,   first,    because    those 
impoverished  ministers,  suffering  as  they  were 
for  the  faith,  were  Calvinists  and  Presbyterians  ; 
and  secondly,  because,  in  the  brief,  the  Church 
of  Rome    is    said    to  be  anti-christian.     From 
whence  it  would  follow,  as  his  lordship  inferred, 
that  Rome  "  was  in  no  capacity  to  confer  sacer 
dotal  power  in  ordinations,  and,  consequently, 
the  benefit  of  the  priesthood,  and  the  force  of 
holy  ministrations,  would  be  lost  in  the  English 
Church,   forasmuch  as   she   has  no  orders  but 
what  she  derives  from  the  Church  of  Rome." 
As  the  result  of  Laud's  opposition,  the  brief  was 
altered,  and  the  undertaking  fell  through.    Upon 
this,  Mr.  Davenport  united  with  Doctors  Sibbs, 
Gouge,  and  other  puritan  divines,  who  pitied  the 
necessities  of  their  exiled  brethren  of  Germany, 
in  promoting  a  private  subscription  for  their  re- 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.      265 

lief.  As  soon  as  the  bishop,  whom  Milton  calls 
"  the  grim  wolf,"  heard  of  this  charitable  pro 
ceeding,  he  arraigned  its  promoters  before  his 
infamous  High  Commission,  and  stopped  the 
business.  This  is  the  man  so  fondly  lauded  by 
the  "Oxford  divines,"  as  the  "martyred  Saint 
William  !  "  And  this,  indeed,  was  one  of  the 
least  of  his  misdoings. 

Up  to  this  time,  Mr.  Davenport  had  been  a 
conformist.  Though  disliking  many  things  en 
joined  in  the  established  church,  and  resolute  to 
have  them  reformed,  he  persuaded  himself  that 
it  was  his  duty,  for  the  present,  to  practice 
them.  When  he  heard  that  John  Cotton  had 
resigned  his  church  at  Boston  in  old  England, 
and  was  endeavoring  to  escape  to  America,  Mr. 
Davenport  sought  a  conference  with  him,  not 
doubting  but  he  should  convince  Mr.  Cotton, 
that  he  ought  to  conform,  rather  than  to  leave 
his  flock.  In  the  "  Life  of  John  Cotton,"  we 
have  given  some  account  of  the  interesting  con 
ferences  held  for  this  purpose,  in  which  Mr. 
Davenport  was  assisted  by  two  other  learned 
and  noted  ministers.  Instead  of  bringing  Mr. 
Cotton  over  to  their  views,  the  result  was,  that 
they  went  entirely  over  to  him.  There  was  no 
resisting  the  meekness  and  mildness  of  that 
VOL.  n.  23 


266     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

godly  and  erudite  man.  Mr.  Davenport  also 
discussed  these  matters  with  bishop  Laud,  who, 
trusting  to  the  terrors  of  ecclesiastical  penalties, 
made  the  remark  ; — "  I  thought  I  had  settled  his 
judgment."  The  prelate  was  vexed  to  find  him 
self  mistaken,  and  to  learn  that  Mr.  Davenport 
had  resigned  his  benefice,  and  fled  across  the 
seas  from  the  pursuivants  who  were  after  him 
with  their  warrants.  And  yet  the  relentless 
oppressor  testified  to  the  moral  worth  of  the 
fugitive  in  a  speech  to  the  house  of  Lords, 
speaking  of  him  as  "a  most  religious  man,  who 
fled  to  New  England  for  the  sake  of  a  good  con 
science  !  "  * 

From  the  time  of  his  becoming  an  avowed 
non-conformist,  Mr.  Davenport  was  made  to 
feel  the  wrath  of  his  diocesan.  Being  seasona 
bly  warned  of  what  was  in  preparation  against 
him,  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  secure  himself  by 
flight.  He  was  too  conscientious  to  leave  his 
flock  without  their  full  consent.  He  was  not 
one  of  those  who  "  too  slightly  and  suddenly 
quit,  what  they  had  before  so  seriously  and  sol 
emnly  accepted  :  as  if  their  pastoral  charges 
were  like  their  clothes  or  upper  garments,  to  be 

*  Answer  to  Lord  Say's  speech. 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.      267 

put  off  at  pleasure,  to  cool  themselves  in  every 
heat."  He  convened  the  principal  members  of 
St.  Stephen's  church.  Owning  their  right  in 
him  as  their  pastor,  he  declared  that  no  danger 
should  drive  him  from  any  service  or  exposure 
they  might  require  at  his  hands.  He  then 
asked  their  advice  in  regard  to  the  existing  exi 
gency.  After  sad  and  serious  deliberation,  they 
discharged  him  from  all  special  obligation  to 
them,  and  sorrowfully  consented  to  accept  his 
resignation. 

Finding  that  his  retirement  from  his  sphere 
of  pastoral  duty  did  not  exempt  him  from  the 
eager  pursuit  of  the  bishop's  officials,  he  betook 
himself  to  Holland,  in  the  latter  part  of  1633. 
The  blasts  of  persecution  only  convey  the 
winged  seeds  of  truth  upon  the  pinions  of  the 
wind.  The  stormy  breath  of  opposition  may 
blow  with  all  its  fury.  It  cannot  quench  the 
flame.  It  will  but  scatter  the  glowing  sparks, 
and  kindle  each  of  them  to  a  living  blaze,  and 
spread  around  a  wider  conflagration. 

On  getting  to  Holland,  Mr.  Davenport  became 
colleague  with  Rev.  John  Paget,  for  many  years 
pastor  of  an  English  church  at  Amsterdam.  For 
some  six  months,  affairs  went  on  happily.  But 
the  senior  pastor,  an  aged  man,  was  a  violent 


268     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

Presbyterian  ;  and,  among  other  things,  insisted 
that  baptism  should  be  administered  to  all  chil 
dren  who  might  be  presented  for  the  purpose. 
This  indiscriminate  baptistn  of  all  children  with 
out  regard  to  the  character  of  the  parents,  was 
the  practice  of  the  Dutch  churches.  Mr.  Dav 
enport  utterly  refused  to  sanction  such  a  prac 
tice,  and  argued  strenuously  against  it.  A  warm 
controversy  on  this  subject  arose  between  him 
and  Mr.  Paget.  The  latter  procured  a  decision 
of  the  Dutch  classis  or  presbytery,  to  which 
their  church  belonged,  adverse  to  his  colleague. 
Mr.  Davenport,  who  was  as  much  opposed  to 
presbyterial  government  as  he  was  to  the  profa 
nation  of  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  would  not 
acquiesce  in  that  decision.  Being  constrained, 
after  some  six  months,  to  retire  from  the  public 
duties  of  his  ministry,  he  restricted  himself  to 
lecturing  catechetically  on  Sabbath  evenings  to 
a  small  assemblage  which  met  at  his  lodgings. 
But  even  this  private  meeting  was  forbidden  by 
the  civil  authority.  Beside  ihe  usual  strife  of 
tongues,  this  dispute  occasioned  a  pamphletary 
war  ;  of  which  the  last  publication  was  Mr. 
Davenport's  "  Apologetical  Reply,"  printed  at 
Rotterdam  in  1636. 

Satisfied  by  this  time,  that  the  yoke  of  Dutch 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.      269 

presbyterianism  was  nearly  as  insupportable  as 
that  of  English  prelatism,  he  resolved  to  betake 
himself  to  the  free  wildernesses  of  America. 
He  had  received  letters  from  Mr.  Cotton  giving 
a  glowing  account  of  matters  here  ;  and  telling 
him,  "  that  the  order  of  the  churches  and  the 
commonwealth  was  now  so  settled  in  New 
England,  by  common  consent,  that  it  brought 
into  his  mind  the  new  heaven  and  the  new 
earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness."  Mr. 
Davenport  had  always  been  a  warm  advocate  of 
that  colonial  enterprise.  He  was  one  of  those 
by  whose  means  the  Massachusetts  patent  was 
obtained.  At  his  own  request,  his  name  was 
not  inserted  among  those  of  the  patentees,  for 
fear  it  might  provoke  a  fiercer  opposition  in  the 
privy  council,  from  his  old  adversary  Laud,  who 
was  then  bishop  of  London.  He  contributed 
the  generous  sum  of  fifty  pounds  to  help  in  pro 
curing  the  charter,  and  exerted  his  influence 
every  way  he  could,  to  promote  the  under 
taking.  He  felt  that  the  leadings  of  Providence 
were  drawing  him  to  this  western  strand.  "  He 
that  openeth,  and  no  man  shutteth  ;  and  shut- 
teth,  and  no  man  openeth," — He,  with  provi 
dential  hand,  had  closed  every  door  of  usefulness 
against  him,  except  that  which  stood  open  beyond 
the  Atlantic. 

23* 


270     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

To  prepare  for  this  voyage,  Mr.  Davenport 
returned  to  London.  Ever  tenacious  of  his  prin 
ciples,  he  told  his  old  friends  there,  "  that  he 
thought  God  carried  him  over  into  Holland,  on 
purpose  to  bear  witness  against  that  promiscuous 
baptism."  He  and  his  faithful  companion,  The- 
ophilus  Eaton,  collected  a  band  of  colonists, 
whom  they  led  out  of  spiritual  Egypt,  the  house 
of  bondage  and  oppression,  into  the  distant  land 
of  promise.  He  who  divided  the  Eed  Sea 
before  the  Israelites,  gave  this  little  company  as 
safe  a  passage  across  the  ocean.  They  arrived 
at  Boston  in  the  Hector  and  another  ship,  on  the 
twenty-sixth  of  June,  1637.  Among  other  pas 
sengers,  who  came  with  this  expedition,  was 
Edward  Hopkins,  son-in-law  of  Governor  Eaton, 
and  himself  for  many  years  governor  of  Con 
necticut  colony.  By  his  will,  he  became  a 
distinguished  benefactor  of  Harvard  College, 
and  several  other  institutions  of  learning  in 
New  England.  With  these  came  also  Lord 
Leigh,  son  and  heir  of  the  Earl  of  Marlboro',  a 
youth  of  nineteen,  humble  and  pious,  who  came 
merely  to  see  the  country ;  and  returned  to 
England  a  few  weeks  after,  in  company  with 
Sir  Henry  Vane. 

Mr.    Davenport   was   heartily   welcomed   by 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.     271 

Mr.  Cotton  and  his  associates.  His  arrival 
occurred  while  the  whole  country  was  agitated 
by  the  antinomian  convulsion.  On  the  seven 
teenth  of  August,  he  preached  in  the  clay-built 
church  of  Boston,  from  the  text ; — "  Now  I 
beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the  name  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  all  speak  the  same  thing, 
and  that  there  be  no  divisions  among  you  ;  but 
that  ye  be  perfectly  joined  together  in  the  same 
mind,  and  in  the  same  judgment."  1  Cor.  1  :  10. 
In  this  sermon,  as  Governor  Winthrop,  who 
heard  it,  tells  us,  u  as  he  fully  set  forth  the 
nature  and  danger  of  divisions,  and  the  disor 
ders  which  were  among  us,  so  he  clearly  discov 
ered  his  judgment  against  the  new  opinions  and 
bitter  practices  which  were  sprung  up  here.  He 
at  once  took  an  active  part  in  the  adjustment  of 
that  perilous  controversy  :  and  his  wisdom  and 
knowledge  were  made  conspicuous  in  the  Synod 
of  1637,  by  which  those  dangerous  errors  were 
suppressed.  At  the  request  of  the  Synod,  he 
closed  the  proceedings  by  a  sermon  on  the  text, 
Phil.  3  :  16  ; — "  Nevertheless,  whereunto  we 
have  attained,  let  us  walk  by  the  same  rule,  let 
us  mind  the  same  thing."  In  this  discourse,  he 
declared  the  result  of  the  assembly,  and,  "  with 
much  wisdom  and  sound  argument,"  urged  to 
unity  and  harmony. 


272     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

This  troublesome  business  being  disposed  of, 
he  set  himself  in  earnest  to  find  a  place  of  abode 
for  his  colony,  This  body  of  emigrants  was 
composed  of  "  very  desirable  folk,"  and  the 
Massachusetts  people  were  very  earnest  to  have 
them  settle  in  "  the  Bay."  The  Charlestown 
settlers  made  them  large  offers  of  their  territory; 
the  grantees  of  Newbury  offered  them  their 
whole  town ;  and  the  General  Court  begged 
their  acceptance  of  any  ungranted  region  within 
the  bounds  of  the  patent.  The  refusal  of  these 
urgent  invitations  was  regarded  as  almost  an 
unkindness  by  those  who  coveted  this  accession 
to  their  strength. 

But  Mr.  Davenport  and  Mr.  Eaton  had  already 
visited  Quinipiac,  to  which  they  afterwards  gave 
the  name  of  New  Haven.  They  were  much 
taken  with  the  beauty  and  fertility  of  that  tract 
of  country  :  and,  inasmuch  as  they  had  no  royal 
grant  or  patent,  and  that  region  was  not  included 
in  the  limits  of  any  patent  already  given,  they 
hoped,  by  living  there,  to  be  exempted  from  the 
authority  of  any  governor  general.  The  peo 
ple,  at  that  time,  were  apprehensive  that  such  a 
governor  would  be  sent  out  by  the  king  to  re 
strain  their  liberties ;  and  the  wish  to  escape 
from  such  authority  was  very  natural.  More- 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.      273 

over,  it  was  taken  into  consideration,  that  it  was 
important  to  forestall  the  Dutch  colonists  of  New 
Amsterdam,  now  New  York,  who  were  intend 
ing-  to  secure  Quinipiac  for  themselves.  Another 
advantage  likely  to  result  from  the  forming  of 
this  English  settlement  was,  the  strengthening 
of  the  infant  colony  of  Connecticut,  whose  head 
quarters  were  at  Hartford.  These  two  colonies 
continued  to  be  entirely  distinct  for  many  years. 
It  was  also  thought,  that  Mr.  Davenport's  resi 
dence  in  Massachusetts  might  tend  to  draw 
down  upon  that  colony  the  speedier  wrath  of 
archbishop  Laud,  who  loved  them  not  before. 
When  he  heard,  that  Mr.  Davenport  had  fled  to 
New  England  to  avoid  the  storm  of  prelatic  in 
dignation,  that  bitter  persecutor  grimly  said  ; — 
"  My  arm  shall  reach  him  there  !  "  It  was  sup 
posed  that  the  scattering  of  those  who  were 
obnoxious  to  Laud  into  different  places,  might 
lessen  the  motives  for  stretching  out  his  potent 
arm  against  them.  As  it  was,  that  arch-priest  of 
unrelenting  superstition  had  obtained  a  commis 
sion  from  the  king  to  exercise  his  ghostly 
tyranny  over  these  colonies,  and  compel  con 
formity  by  the  severest  measures.  But  the 
political  excitements  at  home  obliged  him  and 
his  monarch  to  confine  their  activity  to  resisting 


274     LIFE     OF    JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

a  revolution  whose  whirlings  threw  their  heads 
from  off  their  shoulders.  As  John  Cotton  ex 
pressed  it ; — "  God  rocked  three  nations  with 
shaking  dispensations,  in  order  to  procure  some 
rest  for  these  infant  churches." 

Mr.  Davenport  and  his  companions  gave  as 
their  principal  reason  for  removing  to  New 
Haven  after  nine  months'  stay  in  the  older 
colony,  that  most  of  them  were  Londoners,  who 
were  not  so  well  fitted  for  an  agricultural,  as  for 
a  commercial,  settlement ;  which  they  thought 
might  be  formed  with  better  prospects  at  Quini- 
piac  than  at  any  unoccupied  place  on  the  Bay. 
They  eailed  from  Boston  for  the  place  of  their 
destination  on  the  thirtieth  of  March,  1638. 
They  left  a  letter,  dated  the  twelfth  of  the  same 
month,  and  addressed  to  the  government  at 
Boston.  In  this  affectionate  farewell,  they  ac 
knowledge  gratefully  the  kindness  they  had 
experienced.  They  anticipate  the  future  ser 
vices  which  shall  be  mutually  rendered  by  the 
older  plantation  and  that  which  they  are  going 
to  make.  These  plantations,  they  say,  "  the 
Divine  Providence  hath  combined  together  in  as 
strong  bond  of  brotherly  affection,  by  the  same 
ness  of  their  condition,  as  Joab  and  Abishai 
were,  whose  several  armies  did  mutually 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.     275 

strengthen  them  both  against  several  ene 
mies  : — or  rather  they  are  joined  together  as 
Hippocrates  his  twins,  to  stand  and  fall,  to  grow 
and  decay,  to  flourish  and  wither,  to  live  and 
die  together." 

After  all,  it  is  not  unlikely,  that  one  of  the 
principal  motives  which  induced  Mr.  Davenport 
to  urge  his  companions  to  plant  themselves  in 
an  unsubdued  part  of  the  wilderness,  was  an  in 
clination  to  have  their  own  way.  They  wished 
to  frame  their  church  and  commonwealth  on  a 
model  more  thoroughly  scriptural  than  could  be 
found  anywhere  else.  Mr.  Davenport,  as  well 
as  John  Robinson,  had  observed,  that  reforma 
tion  is  seldom  carried  further  in  any  place  than 
where  the  first  reformers  left  the  work.  Mr. 
Davenport  remarked,  that  "  as  easily  might  the 
ark  have  been  removed  from  the  mountains  o 
Ararat,  where  it  first  grounded,  as  a  people  get 
any  ground  in  reformation  after  and  beyond  the 
first  remove  of  the  reformers."  With  such  sen 
timents,  it  was  natural,  that  he  should  wish  to 
have  the  religious  and  civil  affairs  of  his  colony, 
from  the  outset,  fashioned  in  the  strictest  con 
formity  with  the  rules  of  the  Bible.  This  could 
be  best  effected  where  every  thing  was  to  be 
begun  anew. 


276     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 


This  band  of  pilgrims  reached  Quinipiac,  the 
future  New  Haven,  on  the  fourteenth  of  April, 
1638.  Mr.  Davenport  was  then  forty-one  years 
of  age.  The  next  day  is  the  Sabbath.  A  drum 
beats  in  the  rude  and  hasty  encampment.  The 
armed  men,  with  their  wives  and  children, 
gather  at  this  signal  under  a  branching  oak. 
They  meet  to  consecrate  to  God  a  new  region 
reclaimed  from  heathen  darkness.  For  the  first 
time  the  aisles  of  that  forest-temple  resounded 
with  the  praises  of  the  Most  High.  Here  are 
men  who  were  nurtured  in  the  halls  of  Oxford 
and  Cambridge  ;  and  women  used  to  all  the 
elegant  refinements  of  the  British  metropolis. 
They  are  gathered  under  the  oaken  tree.  Why 
are  they  here  ?  Why  this  change  in  their  con 
dition  ?  Why  are  they  here,  far  from  the  haunts 
of  civilization,  confronting  privation  and  suffer 
ing  in  every  form  ?  It  is  for  conscience,  to  keep 
that  sacred  thing  unspotted  : — it  is  for  pos 
terity  : — for  eternity  : — for  God  !  Surely  angels 
rejoiced,  while  Infinite  Love  smiled  upon  the 
scene.  Mr.  Davenport  preached  from  the  text, 
Matthew  4:  1, — "Then  was  Jesus  led  up  of 
the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness  to  be  tempted  of 
the  devil  :  "—and  his  subject  was,  "  the  tempta 
tions  of  the  wilderness."  Every  place,  however 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.      277 

sequestered,  has  its  trials.  In  every  place,  we 
have  need  to  watch  and  pray. 

The  colonists  were  in  no  rash  haste  to  frame 
their  institutions.  During  the  fourteen  months 
in  which  they  were  laboriously  erecting-  their 
dwellings,  and  clearing  their  lands,  they  were 
much  occupied  in  social  prayer  and  conference, 
with  reference  to  the  important  undertaking 
before  them.  During  this  period  Mr.  Daven 
port  prepared  his  "  Discourse  about  civil  govern 
ment  in  a  New  Plantation  wrhose  Design  is 
Religion."  This  treatise  was  published  many 
years  after,  in  1673.  It  is  a  vindication  of  the 
practice,  long  maintained  by  our  fathers,  of 
restricting  the  rights  of  voting,  and  of  holding 
office,  to  such  as  are  members  of  the  Church. 

When  ripe  for  action,  "'all  the  free  planters" 
assembled  on  the  fourth  of  June,  1639,  in  a 
barn,  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  civil  gov 
ernment.  There  was  a  sermon  by  Mr.  Daven 
port  from  Proverbs  9:  1, — "Wisdom  hath 
builded  her  house,  she  hath  hewn  out  her  seven 
pillars."  After  much  other  discourse  by  differ 
ent  individuals,  they  formed  a  literal  "  social 
contract,"  and  erected  themselves  into  a  body 
politic  by  a  mutual  compact.  It  was  then  unani 
mously  agreed  to  choose  twelve  men  to  lay  the 
VOL.  ii.  24 


!278     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

foundation  of  the  church.  These  twelve  men 
were  empowered  to  select  seven  out  of  their  own 
number  to  constitute  the  new  church.  This 
number  may  have  been  suggested  as  an  allusion 
to  the  seven  pillars  of  Wisdom's  house  :  but 
more  probably  it  was  adopted  because  our  fath 
ers  considered  seven  to  be  the  smallest  number 
which  could  issue  a  case  of  discipline  according 
to  the  directions  of  our  Saviour  in  the  eigh 
teenth  chapter  of  Matthew.  Of  this  particular 
seven,  Mr.  Davenport  was  one.  He,  with  the 
six,  entered  into  a  covenant,  and  constituted  the 
first  church  in  New  Haven  on  the  twenty-sec 
ond  of  August,  1639.  Being  thus  gathered, 
they  proceeded  to  admit  others  into  their  fel 
lowship. 

Shortly  after  the  church  was  organized,  Mr. 
Davenport  was  chosen  pastor.  He  was  ordained 
by  the  hands  of  two  or  three  of  the  lay -brethren, 
though  Mr.  Hooker  and  Mr.  Stone,  the  rever 
end  pastors  of  the  church  in  Hartford,  were 
present,  and  one  of  them  made  the  prayer. 
This  ceremony  was  used,  notwithstanding  the 
validity  of  Mr.  Davenport's  ordination  in  the 
Church  of  England  was  not  doubted.  But  it 
was  held,  that  his  earlier  ordination  could  not 
constitute  him  a  minister  of  this  new  church, 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.      279 

any  more  than  a  man's  being  a  lawful  magis 
trate  in  England  would  make  him  a  magistrate 
in  a  foreign  jurisdiction  without  further  commis 
sion.  Such  ordinations  of  one  who  had  pre 
viously  been  admitted  to  the  ministry,  our 
fathers  regarded  just  as  we  do  what  we  call 
installations.  The  laying  on  of  hands  was 
used,  as  often  as  a  minister  was  translated  from 
one  pastoral  charge  to  another.  It  was  intended 
merely  as  a  solemn  recognition  of  him  in  his 
new  relation  to  a  particular  church. 

Ordination  by  laymen,  usually  the  ruling 
elders  and  deacons  of  the  church,  was  practiced 
only  in  a  few  instances  in  the  first  settlement  of 
this  country  :  and  soon  went  into  disuse. 

Other  churches  rapidly  sprung  up  around 
New  Haven  ;  and  religion  in  its  highest  purity 
as  to  faith  and  order  flourished  among  them. 
They  could  soon  sing  with  satisfaction  Stern- 
hold's  antiquated  stave  ; — 

"  Go  walk  about  all  Syon  hill, 

Yea,  round  about  her  go  : 

And  tell  the  towres  that  thereupon 

Are  builded  on  a  roe  : 

And  marke  you  well  her  bulwarkes  all, 

Behold  her  towres  there, 

That  ye  may  tell  thereof  to  them 

That  after  shall  be  here. 

For  this  God  is  our  God  forevermore  is  hee  ; 

Yea,  and  unto  the  death  also,  our  guider  shall  he  be." 


2SO     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 


Their  minister  was  an  original  genius,  and  the 
plan  he  adopted  was  his  own,  "  and  if  success 
be  any  evidence  of  merit,  he  certainly  has  high 
claims  to  the  veneration  and  gratitude  of  na 
tions."  "  There  the  famous  church  of  New 
Haven,  as  also  the  neighboring  towns,  enjoyed 
his  ministry,  his  discipline,  his  government,  and 
his  universal  direction  for  many  years.  The 
holiness,  the  watchfulness,  and  the  usefulness  of 
his  ministry,  are  worthy  of  the  remembrance  of 
all  who  would  set  before  them  an  example  of 
ministerial  excellence."  * 

From  this  time  Mr.  Davenport  exercised  his 
ministry  in  great  peace,  and  with  the  happiest 
effects.  He  was  the  spiritual  father  of  the  com 
munity  which  grew  up  around  him,  taking  its 
character  from  the  strong  impression  of  his  irre 
sistible  influence.  He  was  regarded  with  the 
reverence  and  love  which  belonged  to  the  patri 
archs  of  old  :  and  rejoiced  in  many  seals  of  his 
ministry  whom  he  gathered  into  the  church,  not 
without  a  most  careful,  and  yet  gentle  examina 
tion,  on  which  duty  he  laid  the  greatest  stress. 

The  society  of  his  old  friend,  the  excellent 
Eaton,  for  twenty  years  the  governor  of  the  new 

*  Brooke's  Puritans,  III.  450. 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.      281 

colony,  was  a  great  solace  to  the  exiled  Puritan. 
An  eloquent  passage  from  Dr.  Bacon's  invalua 
ble  "  Historical  Discourses"  is  entitled  to  inser 
tion  here.  "  He  and  his  friend  Eaton  build 
their  dwellings  over  against  each  other  on  the 
same  street ;  and  the  intimacy  begun  when  they 
were  children,  and  strengthened  in  their  early 
manhood,  is  prolonged  without  interruption,  till 
in  a  good  old  age,  death  separates  them  for  a 
season,  to  meet  again  in  heaven.  They  were 
never  out  of  each  other's  thoughts  ;  and  rarely 
could  a  day  pass  by,  in  which  they  did  not  see 
each  other,  and  take  counsel  together.  The 
voice  of  prayer,  or  the  evening  psalm,  in  one  of 
their  dwellings,  might  be  heard  in  the  other. 
Whatever  changes  came  upon  one  family,  the 
other  was  sure  to  partake  immediately  in  the 
sorrow  or  the  joy.  In  such  neighborhood  and 
intimacy,  these  two  friends  passed  their  days 
here,  till  the  full  strength  of  manhood  in  which 
they  came,  had  gradually  turned  to  venerable 
age.  They  saw  trials,  many  and  various ; 
trials  such  as  weigh  heaviest  on  the  spirit,  and 
cause  the  heart  to  faint ;  but,  in  all  their  trials, 
they  had  one  hope,  one  consolation  ;  and  how 
refreshing  to  such  men,  in  such  vicissitudes,  is 
the  sympathy  of  kindred  souls,  well-tried  and 
24* 


282     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

true.  Strong  in  themselves,  with  the  gifts  of 
nature,  the  endowments  of  education  and  expe 
rience,  and  the  unction  of  Almighty  grace ; 
strong  in  their  individual  reliance  upon  God, 
their  help  and  Saviour  ;  they  were  the  stronger 
for  their  friendship,  the  stronger  for  their  mutual 
counsels,  the  stronger  for  the  sympathy  by  which 
each  drew  the  other  towards  the  great  Fountain 
of  strength,  and  love,  and  life.  Such  are  the 
friendships  of  good  men.  Their  intimacies  make 
them  better,  holier,  happier,  more  patient  for  en 
durance,  wiser  for  counsel,  stronger  for  every 
godlike  action." 

In  1651,  the  Second  Church  in  Boston, 
which  was  then  recently  formed,  invited  Mr. 
Davenport  to  become  their  pastor  :  but  he  was 
too  firmly  attached  to  his  flock,  to  leave  it  with 
out  clearer  convictions  that  such  was  his  duty 
than  he  felt  at  that  time. 

As  he  became  an  old  man,  he  saw  the  face  of 
society  around  him  changing.  His  beloved 
Eaton  and  many  more  of  his  fellow-pilgrims 
had  gone  the  way  of  all  the  earth,  and  others 
were  coming  up  in  their  room.  But  nothing 
could  quench  his  zeal,  or  slacken  his  industry. 
He  made  strenuous  and  successful  exertions  to 
bring  about  the  establishment  of  a  college  in 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.      283 

New  Haven,  which,  in  time,  was  effected.  The 
common-school  system  of  New  England  rose  up 
very  much  from  his  influence,  being  ever  zealous 
for  universal  education. 

On  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.,  in  1660, 
some  who  had  been  active  in  the  times  of  the 
commonwealth,  were  brought  to  the  scaffold; 
and  others  fled  for  their  lives.  The  surviving 
members  of  the  court  which  condemned  Charles 
I.  to  the  scaffold,  were  pursued  with  special  fury. 
Of  these  regicide  judges,  as  they  were  called, 
four,  at  least,  escaped  to  this  country.  One  of 
them,  Thomas  Revel,  died  in  Braintree  ;  one, 
Col.  Dixwell,  died  in  New  Haven,  and  two 
more  in  the  town  of  Hadley.  These  two  were 
Whalley  and  Goffe,  who  had  been  major  gen 
erals  ;  and  stood  in  the  same  relation  to  Crom 
well,  wherein  Napoleon's  marshals  stood  to  that 
"man  of  destiny."  Goffe  and  Whalley  were 
too  conspicuous  marks  of  royal  vengeance  to  be 
allowed  an  easy  escape. 

Great  efforts  were  made  by  the  partizans  of 
the  king  to  effect  the  arrest  of  this  pair  of  com 
patriots,  who  were  men  of  interesting  personal 
character  and  eminent  piety,  as  well  as  distin 
guished  for  the  high  stations  they  had  filled. 
They  sought  concealment  in  one  place  after 


284     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 


another ;  avoiding  arrest,  only  through  the 
strong  sympathy  of  the  magistrates  and  people. 
They  came  to  New  Haven  on  the  seventh  of 
March.  On  this  occasion  Mr.  Davenport 
preached  a  sermon  whose  boldness  bordered  on 
temerity.  He  courageously  and  successfully 
sought  to  awake  the  strongest  public  sentiment 
in  behalf  of  the  fugitives.  He  applied  to  the 
case  those  striking  words  of  the  prophet ; — 
"  Take  counsel,  execute  judgment ;  make  thy 
shadow  as  the  night  in  the  midst  of  the  noon 
day  ;  hide  the  outcasts,  bewray  not  him  that 
wandereth  :  let  mine  outcasts  dwell  with  thee, 
Moab ;  be  thou  a  covert  to  them  from  the  face 
of  the  spoiler." 

The  people  were  thus  prepared  to  do  their 
utmost  to  screen  the  hunted  men.  Of  the 
many  individuals  who  must  have  been  aware  of 
their  hiding-places,  not  one  was  tempted  either 
by  fear  of  punishment,  or  hope  of  rich  reward, 
to  betray  them.  Among  other  places,  they 
were  concealed  for  more  than  a  month  in  Mr. 
Davenport's  house.  Chased  from  one  retreat  to 
another,  they  were  secreted  for  some  three 
months  in  a  cave  in  the  vicinity  of  New  Haven. 
Learning,  while  there,  that  Mr.  Davenport  was 
in  danger  of  being  arrested  under  a  charge  of 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.      285 

concealing  them,  they  came  into  the  town,  and 
showed  themselves  openly,  for  the  purpose  of 
clearing  him  of  the  charge.  After  "  wandering 
in  deserts,  and  in  mountains,  and  in  dens,  and 
caves  of  the  earth,"  the  violence  of  pursuit 
gradually  died  away.  They  passed  many  years 
in  devout  seclusion,  and  died  at  last  in  peace. 

In  Mr.  Davenport's  conduct  on  this  occasion, 
was  blended  great  courage  and  adroitness. 
"  Not  fearing  the  wrath  of  the  king,"  he  dis 
played  a  generous  and  magnanimous  friendship 
worthy  of  those  heroic  times,  when  good  men 
felt,  that  "  opposition  to  tyrants  is  obedience  to 
God." 

The  people  of  the  Connecticut  colony,  in 
1662,  obtained  a  charter  from  Charles  II.,  of  the 
most  favorable  character.  In  this  charter  the 
New  Haven  territory  was  added  to  theirs  ;  and 
they  at  once  claimed  jurisdiction.  The  New 
Haven  colony,  for  a  time,  warmly  resisted  the 
change  ;  but  was  at  last  constrained  to  acquiesce. 
This  change  was  exceedingly  distasteful  to  Mr. 
Davenport,  who  feared  that  the  civil  and  relig 
ious  order  he  had  fostered  with  such  care  might 
be  impaired  as  to  its  purity  or  efficacy. 
T-  Another  thing  which  sorely  afflicted  him  was, 
the  introduction  of  what  was  called  the  "  Half- 


236     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

Way  Covenant,"  into  the  New  England  church 
es.  After  many  attempts  to  bring  in  this  prac 
tice,  it  was  decided  in  a  synod  held  in  Boston 
in  1662,  that  all  persons  who  had  been  baptized 
in  their  infancy,  and  who  would  come  forward 
and  own  their  covenant  obligations,  should  have 
the  privilege  of  baptism  for  their  children. 
The  next  innovation  was,  to  consider  this  class 
of  persons  as  members  entitled  to  the  actual 
enjoyment  of  all  the  privileges  of  the  church, 
except  the  right  of  coming  to  the  Lord's  table. 
Hi  required  but  one  step  more  to  make  such  per 
sons  members  in  full  communion,  though  pro 
fessing  to  be  total  strangers  to  any  such  thing  as 
a  work  of  grace  in  the  heart.  At  last  it  was 
argued  that  such  as  were  members  of  the  church, 
might  also  enter  the  ministry  ;  and  accordingly 
many  confessedly  unregenerate  persons  were 
inducted  into  the  sacred  office.  It  took  some 
seventy  years  or  more  to  complete  all  these  suc 
cessive  declensions.  But  a  hundred  years  ago 
these  corruptions  had  nearly  reached  the  lowest 
depth  of  laxity.  The  glory  of  New  England 
had  mostly  departed.  Arminianism  had  made 
great  inroads  ;  and  although  speculative  ortho 
doxy  still  held  the  most  of  the  ground,  it  was  for 
the  most  part  dead  and  barren.  The  great 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.     2S7 

revival  in  the  time  of  Edwards  and  Whitefield, 
for  a  season,  checked  the  decay  of  evangelical 
sentiments.  But  the  process  of  corruption  soon 
resumed  its  course,  until  the  early  part  of  this 
century  witnessed  that  terrible  apostacy  from 
the  faith  of  our  fathers  and  the  doctrines  of  the 
gospel,  over  which  the  Massachusetts  churches 
are  still  mourning  in  sackcloth. 
V*This  train  of  innovations  was  not  started 
without  a  warm  opposition.  When  the  result 
of  the  synod  in  1662  was  published,  the  whole 
country  was  at  once  divided  into  parties,  which 
were  distinguished  by  the  names  of  Synodist 
and  Anti-synodist.  Among  the  Synodists, 
strange  and  sad  to  say,  were  some  of  the  most 
beloved  and  venerated  of  the  old  stock  of  puri 
tan  ministers.  Alas,  these  good  men  saw  not 
whither  the  path  they  were  opening  would  tend. 

""But  Mr.  Davenport  fully  anticipated  the  deplora 
ble  results  which  were  reached  at  Iasu3  Many 
years  before,  he  had  combated  the  same  erro 
neous  principles  while  an  exile  in  Holland. 

TAnd  now  that  they  had  broken  out  in  New 
England,  he  opposed  them  with  the  firmness  of 
age,  as  well  as  the  unabated  fire  of  his  youth. 
He  became  the  leader  of  the  Anti-synodists,  and 
discharged  some  of  the  heaviest  guns  in  that 


288     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

pamphlet-war.  Several  of  his  manuscripts  re 
lating  to  this  contest  are  preserved  by  the  Anti 
quarian  Society  at  Worcester. 

While  this  controversy  was  waging,  the 
First  church  in  Boston  was  deprived  by  death 
of  both  its  pastors.  The  learned  Norton  and 
the  beloved  Wilson  were  gone.  Both  of  these 
good  men  were  in  favor  of  that  unfortunate 
synod  ;  and  the  greater  part  of  the  church-mem 
bers  had  assented  to  its  canons.  But  in  those 
difficult  and  exciting  times,  it  was  thought  that 
no  young  man,  and  no  man  riot  bred  at  the 
English  universities,  could  be  competent  to  take 
the  charge  of  that  important  church.  The  eyes 
of  the  majority  were  turned  towards  Mr.  Dav 
enport.  He  was  then  in  his  seventieth  year, 
and  had  been  an  invalid  for  a  long  time  ;  but  he 
was  at  the  height  of  his  reputation,  and  his  pow 
ers  in  the  pulpit  were  unimpaired  by  age.  The 
changes  which  had  taken  place  at  New  Haven, 
where  he  had  ministered  for  thirty  years,  made 
him  more  willing  than  formerly  to  leave  it.  He 
felt  too,  that  he  had  a  great  duty  in  reference  to 
withstanding  the  dangerous  deviations  which 
were  going  on  at  Boston.  He  accepted  the  call 
which  was  tendered  him.  The  church  of  New 
Haven  clung  to  him  with  a  desperate  tenacity  ; 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.     289 

utterly  refused  to  grant  him  any  kind  of  dis 
mission  ;  and,  after  long  and  tedious  correspond 
ence,  would  only  passively  acquiesce  in  letting 
him  do  as  he  pleased.  They  adopted  the  lan 
guage  of  the  saints  at  Cesarea,  when  Paul  would 
not  desist  from  going  to  Jerusalem ; — "  When 
he  would  not  be  persuaded,  we  ceased,  saying, 
The  will  of  the  Lord  be  done." 

At  the  same  time  his  settlement  at  Boston 
was  vigorously  opposed  by  a  minority  of  the 
members  of  the  church,  many  of  them  persons 
of  note  and  eminence.  They  were  warm  up 
holders  of  the  Synod  ;  and,  of  course,  were 
vehemently  opposed  to  coming  under  the  minis 
try  of  the  leading  divine  on  the  other  side  of  the 
question,  which  then  was  "  the  most  exciting 
topic  of  the  day."  Their  resistance  was  una 
vailing.  Mr.  Davenport  and  Mr.  James  Allen 
were,  on  the  ninth  of  December,  1668,  installed 
as  co-pastors  of  the  First  Church. 

The  disaffected  members,  to  the  number  of 
twenty-eight,  withdrew,  and  were  organized  at 
Charlestown  into  what  in  now  known  as  the 
Old  South  Church.  This  division  produced  a 
long  and  disturbing  contest  between  these  two 
churches,  in  which  most  of  the  ministers  and 
churches  in  the  colony  took  part.  Seventeen 
VOL.  ii.  25 


290     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

ministers,  probably  of  the  council  at  Charlestown, 
gave  their  public  testimony  against  the  proceed 
ings  of  the  First  Church,  and  especially  of  the 
pastors,  Davenport  and  Allen,  and  ruling-elder 
James  Penn.  The  old  church  published  a  re 
ply.  Some  of  the  members  of  the  new  church 
appear  to  have  been  fined  and  imprisoned  for 
the  supposed  irregularity  of  their  proceedings. 
The  whole  colony  was  drawn  into  the  contest. 
Governor  Bellingham,  who  was  a  member  of 
the  First  Church,  espoused  its  cause  with  zeal. 
Of  this  we  find  an  instance  preserved  among 
the  Massachusetts  Records.  In  1669,  his  pas 
tor,  Mr.  Davenport,  preached  the  Annual  Elec 
tion  Sermon,  which  was  published.  In  this,  he 
expressed  his  sentiments  on  the  controverted 
point.  The  Deputies  who,  in  that  Court,  favored 
his  views,  were  for  passing  the  customary  vote 
of  thanks  for  the  discourse.  The  Magistrates 
or  Assistants,  who  formed  the  other  branch, 
hearing  of  the  pending  vote,  sent  a  communica 
tion,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  May,  1669,  to  the 
Deputies  about  it,  saying  that  they  "  conceive 
the  same  to  be  altogether  unseasonable,  many 
passages  in  the  said  sermon,  being  ill-resented 
by  the  reverend  elders  of  other  churches  and 
persons  present;  and,  therefore,  they  would 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.      291 

forbear  further  proceeding  therein."  The  Sec 
retary  of  the  "  upper  house,"  Edward  Ravvson, 
attests,  that  the  Governor,  who  was  the  pre 
siding-  officer,  and  who  agreed  with  the  Depu 
ties  in  sentiment,  refused  to  put  this  resolve  to 
the  vote  ;  and  so  the  vote  was  taken  by  Mr. 
Bradstreet,  who  was  called  by  the  Magistrates 
so  to  do.  The  Deputies,  of  course,  did  as  they 
pleased  in  the  premises.  The  next  year  also, 
Governor  Bellingham  tried  in  vain  to  get  the 
Council  of  Magistrates  to  unite  with  him  in 
measures  for  preventing  the  erection  of  the  new 
house  of  worship.  But  though  he  had  no  suc 
cess  in  that  quarter,  he  was  warmly  supported 
by  the  Deputies  ;  who,  at  their  session  in  May, 
1670,  censured  the  formation  of  the  new  church 
as  "irregular,  illegal  and  disorderly."  Great 
agitation  was  the  result ;  and  parties  were  or 
ganized  among  the  people  at  large.  The  next 
election  turned  upon  this  point ;  and  the  new 
house  of  Deputies,  at  the  petition  of  many  of  the 
ministers,  annulled  the  censure.  Thus  the  new 
church  triumphed  at  last.  The  origin  of  all  this 
disturbance,  and  this  ardor  in  favor  of  the  Half- 
Way  Covenant,  was  political.  According  to  the 
basis  of  the  government  as  it  then  stood,  none 
could  be  freemen  of  the  colony,  entitled  to  vote 


292     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

and  be  voted  for,  except  such  as  were  members 
of  some  church  acknowledged  by  the  laws  of 
the  land.  "The  Half-Way  Covenant  was  in 
tended  to  bring  in  a  multitude  of  church-mem 
bers,  who  could  be  admitted  in  no  other  way  ; 
and  who  thus  became  capable  of  admission  to 
all  the  civil  privileges  of  the  colony.  This  was 
the  object  of  most  of  the  Synodists.;  OMr.  Dav 
enport,  with  the  Anti-synodists,  was  for  keeping 
up  the  primitive  order,  both  in  church  and  com 
monwealth.  With  him,  it  was  altogether  a 
religious  question  ;  with  the  Synodists,  it  was, 
in  great  part,  a  question  of  civil  rights,  though 
they  too  rested  their  defence  mostly  on  consider 
ations  of  a  religious  kind. 

Thus  the  connection  between  the  Church  and 
State,  though  at  first  intended  for  the  advantage 
and  security  of  the  former,  resulted  in  its  cor 
ruption.  And  it  is  singular,  that  most  of  the 
laws  which  were  framed,  at  intervals,  to  favor 
the  Orthodox  and  Congregational  order,  in  the 
process  of  time  and  change,  came  to  operate 
against  that  order  with  ruinous  effect,  till  the 
last  of  those  laws  was  repealed  in  1834.  The 
history  of  Congregationalism  in  Massachusetts 
is  an  instructive  commentary  on  such  laws,  and 
proves  their  pernicious  and  disastrous  bearing 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.     293 


upon  the  communities  which  they  are  designed 
to  favor.  By  no  people  on  earth  would  the 
union  of  Church  and  State  be  more  strenuously 
resisted  than  by  the  good  people  of  Massachu 
setts,  whose  experience  has  bitterly  taught  them 
the  impolicy  of  such  measures. 

The  contentions  between  the  First  and  Third 
Churches  of  Boston  were  sharp  and  violent. 
We  have  not  room  to  give  the  particulars. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  that,  after  fourteen  years  of 
strife,  the  First  Church  and  the  Old  South  were 
happily  reconciled.  It  is  a  matter  of  serious 
meditation,  that  the  First  Church,  in  those  days, 
represented  the  primitive  and  high-toned  ortho 
doxy  of  the  land;  while  the  Third,  or,  as  we 
now  say,  Old  South  Church,  was  considered  as 
leaning  toward  a  laxer  discipline. 

Mr.  Davenport's  ministry,  which  had  lasted 
nearly  twenty  years  in  London,  and  nearly  thirty 
years  in  New  Haven,  was  of  short  duration  at 
Boston.  "It  is  ill  transplanting  a  tree  that 
thrives  in  the  soil."  In  less  than  two  years 
after  his  last  removal,  he  died  very  suddenly,  of 
apoplexy,  on  the  fifteenth  of  March,  1670, 
being  seventy-two  years  of  age.  He  was  buried 
with  every  testimonial  of  respect  in  the  tomb  of 
the  venerated  Cotton. 
25* 


294     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

Mr.  Davenport  was  too  familiar  with  the 
thoughts  of  death  to  be  disconcerted  at  this 
sudden  call.  Such  was  his  habitual  state  of 
preparation,  that  he  could  have  adopted  the 
language  of  another  good  man  ; — "  I  bless  God 
I  can  lie  down  with  comfort  at  night,  without 
being  solicitous  whether  I  awake  in  this  world 
or  another."  He  who  had  spent  his  life  in 
communing  with  Christ  and  his  saints  on  earth, 
was  ever  ready  to  go  and  commune  with  Christ 
and  saints  in  heaven.  As  good  Mr.  Hooker 
said  of  himself,  in  his  dying  hours,  he  was  only 
going  to  change  his  place,  but  not  his  company. 

So  quickly  was  Mr.  Davenport's  life  taken 
away, — or  rather,  so  quickly  was  death  given  to 
him, — that  he  left  none  of  those  golden  words 
which  so  many  expiring  saints  have  bequeathed 
as  a  treasured  legacy,  to  help  such  as  are  com 
ing  after  them  to  die. 

It  may  have  been  a  presentiment  that  his  end 
might  be  too  sudden  to  allow  of  a  long  death- 
prayer,  that  made  Mr.  Davenport  constantly 
use  those  devout  ejaculations  which  were  his 
wont.  He  once  solemnly  counseled  a  young 
minister,  "  that  he  should  be  much  in  ejacula- 
tory  prayer  ;  for  indeed  ejaculatory  prayers,  as 
arrows  in  the  hand  of  a  mighty  man,  so  are 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.     295 

they.  Happy  is  the  man  that  has  his  quiver 
full  of  them."  Those  who  knew  him  best, 
were  satisfied  of  his  skill  in  this  spiritual  archery. 
He  was  not  only  uniform  in  stated  devotions, 
whether  secret,  domestic,  or  social ;  but  at  every 
pause  or  turn  in  his  daily  affairs,  he  was  ever 
tying  the  desires  of  his  soul  to  these  winged 
missives  ;  and  vigorously  drawing  the  bow  of 
faith,  he  sped  them  over  the  walls  of  heaven. 
His  example  taught  what  has  been  beautifully 
expressed  by  Quarles; 

"  Dart  up  thy  soul  in  groans  ;  thy  secret  groan 
Shall  pierce  His  ear,  shall  pierce  His  ear  alone  ; 
Dart  up  thy  soul  in  vows ;   thy  sacred  vow 
Shall  find  Him  out  where  heaven  alone  shall  know  ; 
Dart  up  thy  soul  in  sighs ;  thy  whispering  sigh 
Shall  rouse  His  ears,  and  fear  no  listener  nigh ; 
Shoot  up  the  bosom-shafts  of  thy  desire, 
Feathered  with  faith,  and  double-forked  with  fire ; 
And  they  will  hit !— Fear  not  where  Heaven  bids  come, 
Heaven's  never  deaf,  but  when  man's  heart  is  dumb." 
% 

Mr.  Davenport  was  a  laborious  student 
throughout  his  long  life.  So  unremitted  was  his 
application,  that  it  excited  the  attention  of  the 
wild  Indians  in  his  vicinity,  who  used  to  call 
him,  according  to  their  custom  of  applying  sig 
nificant  or  descriptive  names,  "  So-big-study- 
man.'  Most  of  his  published  treatises  relate  to 


296     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

the  obsolete  controversies  of  his  day ;  and  have 
little  interest  now,  except  for  the  historian  or  the 
antiquary.  One  volume  of  his,  a  work  of  ex 
perimental  piety,  called  "  The  Saint's  Anchor- 
hold,  in  all  Storms  and  Tempests,"  is  worthy 
of  the  republication  it  would  receive,  could  a 
perfect  copy  be  found.  He  left  some  expository 
and  practical  writings  prepared  for  publication  ; 
but,  to  use  one  of  John  Cotton's  singular  meta 
phors,  these  fair  clusters  of  grapes  have  never 
passed  under  the  press,  that  all  who  would 
might  quaff  the  juice,  and  rejoice. 

"  This  grave  and  serious-spirited  man,"  was 
regarded  as  one  of  the  first  preachers  of  his  day. 
One  who  knew  him  well  has  said  ; — "  He  was 
a  person  beyond  exception  and  compare,  for  all 
ministerial  abilities."  Increase  Mather,  who,  in 
his  earlier  life  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Mr. 
Davenport's  old  age,  gives  him  this  testimony  ; 
— "  I  have  heard  some  say,  who  knew  him  in 
his  younger  years,  that  he  was  then  very  fer 
vent  and  vehement,  as  to  the  manner  of  his 
delivery.  But,  in  his  later  times,  he  did  very 
much  imitate  Mr.  Cotton ;  whom,  in  the  gravi 
ty  of  his  countenance,  he  did  somewhat  resem 
ble." 

Venerable  man !     "We  can  almost  see  him 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.      297 

rising  up  in  the  antiquated  pulpit  of  the  First 
Church  ;  the  thinness  of  his  frame,  wasted  by 
hard  study  and  disease,  concealed  by  the  gown 
which  the  ministers  of  "  the  standing  order  " 
then  generally  wore,  when  abroad,  as  a  custom 
ary  article  of  dress.  Being  university-men, 
they  used  it,  rather  as  an  academical,  than  a 
clerical  garb.  We  notice  next  the  benevolent 
visage,  mild  even  to  an  expression  almost  femi 
nine,  were  it  not  for  the  trim  tufts  of  silvery 
beard  upon  either  lip.  We  see  a  few  bleached 
locks  escaping  from  the  confinement  of  the  old 
"  Roundheads'  close  black  cap."  The  broad 
bands  of  "  formal  cut  "  smoothly  cover  his  neck 
and  bosom.  And  we  are  caught  by  the  radia 
ting  eyes,  those  windows  of  the  soul,  through 
which  is  seen  the  inward  burning,  the  quench 
less  life-fire,  which  age  and  sorrow  cannot  dim. 
While  he  is  pronouncing  his  text  in  measured 
tones  and  slow,  the  congregation  rises  up  from 
the  seats  as  a  token  of  respect  for  the  eternal 
word  of  God.  The  audience  is  again  seated,  to 
listen  intently  to  strains  of  oratory,  impassioned, 
but  well-controlled;  such  as  is  the  child  of  entire 
conviction,  and  the  mother  of  full  persuasion. 
Says  the  historian,  Hubbard,  who  knew  him 
well,  speaking  of  him  in  his  old  age  ; — "Yet 


298     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

was  he  of  that  vivacity,  that  the  strength  of  his 
memory,  profoundness  of  his  judgment,  and 
floridness  of  his  doctrine,  were  little,  if  at  all 
abated." 

This  was  John  Davenport ; — "  old  when 
young,  such  was  his  gravity  of  behavior ;  and 
young  when  old,  such  was  the  quickness  of  his 
endowments." 

Shall  it  be  said,  that  this  race  of  men  is  ex 
tinct  ?  Is  there  no  survivor  to  be  found  ?  Nay : — 
where  is  that  father,  or  that  venerated  grand- 
sire, — that  conscientious,  devout,  Sabbath-keep 
ing  Puritan  whom  you  knew  in  your  best,  your 
youthful  days  ?  Have  you  forgotten  the  gather 
ing  of  the  household  to  the  morning  and  evening 
sacrifice  of  the  family  altar  ?  Do  you  no  longer 
remember  the  godly  man,  who,  ere  he  bowed  in 
prayer,  recited  a  portion  of  Holy  Writ  "  with 
judicious  care,"  with  an  altered  voice,  and  an 
intonation  which  bespoke  his  awful  sense  of  the 
majesty  of  the  oracles  of  God,  read  as  no  other 
book  was  read  ?  Does  not  every  sight  of  the  old 
Family  Bible,  between  whose  Testaments  is  the 
written  record  of  your  own  birth  and  baptism, 
bring  up  the  patriarchal  form  to  view  ?  And  is  it 
in  your  heart  to  forsake  your  father's  faith  and 
your  father's  God  ?  Will  you  seem  to  discredit 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.     299 


the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  your  parent  by  for 
saking  "the  good  old  ways"  he  chose  and 
loved  ?  Will  you  turn  aside  to  courses,  which, 
if  he  be  yet  living,  must  bow  that  reverend  head 
beneath  the  weight  of  sorrow  ?  Is  there  left  in 
your  soul  no  cherished  memory  of  that  mother 
in  Israel,  whose  holy  living  looked  so  saintly 
and  heavenlike  in  your  youthful  days  ?  Do  you 
verily  feel  that  the  course  she  took  conducted 
her  safely  through  the  gloomy  vale  of  death  to 
the  city  of  God,  the  eternal  home  of  the  pure  ? 
O  follow  on  in  that  luminous  track,  that  radiant 
path  to  heaven's  gate,  which  opened  so  brightly 
at  her  coming. 

But  if  ever  there  was  danger,  that  the  Pu 
ritans  might  be  forgotten,  all  such  danger  is  now 
rapidly  passing  away.  If  their  offspring  could 
ever  prove  so  degenerate  as  to  forget  them,  their 
memory  will  be  devoutly  blessed  by  others. 
Never  can  the  writer  of  these  pages  cease  to 
remember  the  emotions  with  which  he  once  lis 
tened  to  that  immortal  lay, — "  The  Landing  of 
the  Fathers."  It  was  in  the  unpuritanical,  but 
lovely  clime  of  Florida.  The  accomplished 
daughter  of  one  of  the  old  Spanish  families,  her 
self  a  Romanist,  and  bred  within  convent-walls, 
took  her  place  at  the  instrument  amid  a  brilliant 


300     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

assembly  gathered  from  many  distant  regions. 
As  her  fingers  ran  along  the  keys,  he  thought  he 
could  not  be  mistaken  in  the  familiar  symphony 
and  "  soft  prelusive  strain."  But  when  her  rich 
full  voice  burst  forth  in  the  stirring  words, 

"  The  breaking  waves  dashed  high 
On  a  stern  and  rock-bound  coast," — 

he  was  lost  in  surprise  and  pleasure.  The  spell 
was  ended  all  too  soon,  as  the  last  solemn  notes 
died  away, — 

"  Aye,  call  it  holy  ground, 

The  soil  where  first  they  trod: 
They  have  left  unstained,  what  there  they  found, 
Freedom  to  worship  God !  " 

Her  gratified  hearer  could  not  refrain  from  ad 
vancing  to  the  side  of  this  bright  daughter  of  the 
sunny  South,  and  accosting  her  in  the  words  of 
Coleridge  to  a  truly  noble  Duchess, 

"  O  lady,  nursed  'mid  pomp  and  pleasure, 
Whence  learned  you  that  heroic  measure  ?  " 

She  turned  upon  him  her  intense  dark  eye, 
which  flashed  with  the  humid  fire  peculiar  to 
the  women  of  her  race,  and  her  countenance 
kindling  with  enthusiasm;  and  replied, — "  0 
Sir,  this  is  my  favorite  song.  Where  can  you 
find  such  sentiments  combined  with  such  mu 
sic  ?  "  This  incident,  in  a  far-oflf  region,  among 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.     301 

people   of  other   lineage,    was  felt  as    a  proud 
tribute  to  our  pilgrim-sires. 

While  engaged  in  these  humble,  but  affec 
tionate  endeavors  to  keep  alive  the  memory  of 
the  good  old  Puritans  of  New  England ; — and 
while  rehearsing  the  mighty  deeds  of  some  of 
"  the  chief  fathers  "  of  the  tribes  of  our  Israel, 
it  has  been  like  preaching  their  funeral  sermons. 
So  vital  and  operative  is  their  surviving  influ 
ence,  that,  though  dead  and  silent  in  the  tomb, 
they  "  still  speak  in  reason's  ear."  So  active 
are  they  yet  among  us,  and  so  familiar  to  our 
contemplations,  that  they  seem  almost  like  old 
acquaintances,  with  whom  we  have  held  reverent 
and  endearing  converse.  Let  us  bless  God  for 
the  power  of  religion,  so  gloriously  exemplified 
in  them !  Let  us  adore  him  for  the  grace  which 
made  them  what  they  were  ! 

We  have  been  wandering  pensively  "  in  the 
place  of  graves,"  among  the  memorials  of  the 
noble  and  pious  dead.  We  have  raised  up  the 
sinking  tablets,  and  retouched  the  time-worn 
and  moss-grown  inscriptions.  It  has  been  a 
labor  of  sweet,  grateful  love  to  twine  the  fresh 
garlands  of  remembrance  around  the  old  sepul 
chral  urns.  And  now  what  does  natural  piety 
and  filial  gratitude  demand  of  us,  who  inherit 
VOL.  ii.  26 


302     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

the  rich  fruits  of  the  wisdom,  the  prayers,  and 
the  sufferings  of  our  sires  ?  Can  we  do  less  than 
maintain  our  stand  upon  their  approved  princi 
ples  and  practices  ?  Can  we  do  less  than  use, 
and  act  upon,  the  customary  petition  of  the 
pious  Deans,  to  be  "  delivered  from  right-hand 
extremes,  and  from  left-hand  defections  ?  "  Shall 
we  ever  permit  ourselves  to  relapse  into  that 
hierarchal  thraldom  from  which  our  fathers  so 
conscientiously  fled  ?  Or  to  sink  down  into 
those  heresies  which  they  so  religiously  ab 
horred  ?  May  the  God  of  our  fathers  forbid  it ! 
"We  are  told  of  the  ancient  Scythians,  that  when 
forced  to  retreat  in  battle,  if  they  chanced  to 
come  to  the  graves  of  their  ancestors,  they 
would  give  back  no  further.  There  they  would 
stand  immovable  :  and  either  conquer,  or  die 
upon  the  spot.  Oh,  let  us  take  our  stand  where 
our  fathers  sleep  in  God,  and  where  their  dust 
is  resting  in  hope.  Let  us  be  steadfast  to  their 
faith  and  order  in  the  gospel ;  and  be  firm,  in 
cherishing,  like  them,  the  life  and  power  of 
godliness.  So  shall  we  either  win  the  day,  or 
achieve  a  death  more  glorious  than  victory 
itself. 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.      303 


The  following  list  of  Mr.  Davenport's  printed  works,  to  which, 
after  very  careful  research,  but  little  in  addition  could  be  found, 
is  mostly  taken  from  Rev.  Dr.  Bacon's  Historical  Researches. 

A  Royal  Edict  for  Military  Exercises,  published  in  a  Sermon 
preached  to  the  captains  and  gentlemen  that  exercise  arms  in  the 
Artillery  Garden,  at  their  general  meeting  in  Saint  Andrews  Under- 
shaft  in  London.  Lond.  1629.  There  is  a  copy  in  the  Atheneum 
Library,  Boston. 

A  Letter  to  the  Dutch,  containing  a  Just  Complaint  against  an  Un 
just  Doer :  Wherein  is  declared  the  miserable  Slavery  and  Bondage 
that  the  English  Church  of  Amsterdam  is  now  in,  by  reason  of  the 
Tyrannical  Government  and  Corrupt  Doctrine  of  Mr.  John  Paget, 
their  present  Minister.  By  John  Davenport.— Amst.  1634.  4to. 

Certain  Instructions  delivered  to  the  Elders  of  the  English  Church 
deputed,  which  are  to  be  propounded  to  the  pastors  of  the  Dutch 
Church  in  Amsterdam,  1634.  Wood,  (Athense  Oxonienses,)  calls  it 
a  quarto  paper. 

1.  A  Report  of  some  passages  or  proceedings  about  his  calling  to 
the  English  Church  in  Amsterdam,  against  John  Paget.  2.  Allega- 
tiona  of  Scripture  against  the  baptizing  of  some  kind  of  infants. 
3.  Protestation  about  the  publishing  of  his  writings.  These  three 
"  little  scripts,"  as  Wood  calls  them,  were  all  printed  in  quarto  at 
Amsterdam,  in  1634.  Mr.  Paget  replied  in  a  book  of  156  pages 
quarto,  entitled,  "  An  Answer  to  the  Unjust  Complaints,  &c."  To 
this  book  Mr.  Davenport  made  a  rejoinder  in  the  following  article. 

An  Apologetical  Reply  to  a  book  called  "  An  Answer  to  the  Unjust 
Complaint  of  W[illiam]  B[est,]  tec."  quarto.  Rotterdam,  1636.  A 
copy  of  this  is  among  the  books  deposited  by  the  Old  South  Church 
in  the  Library  of  the  Mass.  Historical  Society. 

Profession  of  Faith  made  publicly  before  the  Congregation  at  his 
admission  into  one  of  the  Churches  of  New  England;  containing 
twenty  several  heads.  1.  Concerning  the  Scriptures,  &c.  Lond. 
1642.  One  sheet,  quarto. 

The  Messiah  is  already  come.  A  Sermon  on  Acts  2 :  36.  Lond. 
1653.  Quarto. 


304     LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT. 

The  Knowledge  of  Christ,  &c.,  wherein  the  types,  prophecies, 
genealogies,  miracles,  humiliation,  &c.,  of  Christ  are  opened  and  ap 
plied.  Quarto,  printed  1658  or  before. 

Catechism  containing  the  chief  heads  of  the  Christian  Keligion. 
Lond.  1659,  octavo.  Published  at  the  desire  and  for  the  use  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  New  Haven. 

The  Saints'  Anchor-hold,  in  all  storms  and  tempests,  preached  in 
sundry  sermons,  and  published  for  the  support  and  comfort  of  God's 
people  in  all  times  of  trial.  Lond.  1661.  12mo. 

Another  Essay  for  investigation  of  the  truth,  in  answer  to  two 
questions,  &c.  Cambridge,  1663.  Quarto.  There  is  a  copy  in  the 
possession  of  Rev.  Thomas  Robbins,  D.  D.,  of  Hartford,  Conn. 

Election  Sermon,  at  Boston,  1669. 

God's  Call  to  his  People  to  turn  unto  him,  &c.,  in  two  sermons  on 
two  public  fasting  days  in  New  England.  Lond.  1670.  Quarto 

The  Power  of  Congregational  Churches  Asserted  and  Vindicated  ; 
In  answer  to  a  Treatise  of  Mr.  J.  Paget,  Intituled,  "The  Defence  of 
Church  Government,  exercised  in  Classes  and  Synods."  By  John 
Davenport,  B.  D.,  and  Pastor  to  the  Church  in  New  Haven  in  New 
England.— Isai.  1  :  26.— Lond.  Printed  in  the  year  1672.  16mo.  pp. 
179.  There  is  a  copy  in  the  Library  of  Harvard  University.  It  was 
not  published  till  twenty-seven  years  after  it  was  first  written  ;  the 
original  draft  being  lost  at  sea  on  its  way  to  the  press.  See  a  good 
abstract  in  the  second  volume  of  Haribury's  Memorials. 

A  Discourse  about  Civil  Government  in  a  New  Plantation  whose 
design  is  Religion.  Cambridge,  1673.  Quarto.  This  is  the  Tract 
erroneously  bearing  the  name  of  John  Cotton  on  the  title-page. 

He  also  published  a  Latin  epistle  to  John  Dury  on  the  Union  of 
Protestant  Churches. 

He  wrote  several  Introductories  to  other  men's  works:  among 
which  his  epistle  before  Scudder's  Daily  Walk  is  mentioned  as  worthy 
to  be  reckoned  itself  a  book. 

His  Exposition  of  the  Canticles  was  just  going  into  the  press  at 
London,  when  the  death  of  the  undertaker  of  the  publication  stopped 
it.  This  is  to  be  lamented,  because  it  was  prefaced  by  a  life  of  the 


LIFE     OF     JOHN     DAVENPORT.     305 

author,  drawn  up  by  Increase  Mather,  which  is  now  lost.  Mr.  Dav 
enport  also  wrote  an  unprinted  life  of  John  Cotton,  which  was  once 
in  Governor  Hutchinson's  hands  ;  but  is  now  lost.  Several  of  his 
manuscripts  relative  to  the  Sy nodal ian  controversy  are  in  the  Library 
of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society  at  Worcester,  Mass. 


VOL.  ii.     27 


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